An 87-year-old woman was bound, threatened and robbed in a terrifying armed robbery two days before Christmas.

It was about 8.30am on December 23 last year when the victim was grabbed from behind in her backyard in Melbourne’s Preston.

The woman, who does not want to be named, said she felt a knife against her throat and a gun barrel against her head.

The man forced her into the house and told her to lay on her bed, and she feared she was about to be raped.

“She thought, ‘I’m not going to live another day’,” her daughter Kerry told reporters, The Age reported.

The man stuffed cash and family jewellery into a shopping bag and bound her hands behind her back with a belt.

He said he would come back to kill her if she told police, and left.

The man has still not been caught almost a year later.

Victoria Police on Sunday renewed its push for public information.

Detective Senior Constable Matt McKenzie said it was a disturbing incident.

“To bind and threaten to kill an 87-year-old female is the lowest of the low.”

The woman went to a neighbour for help after she was able to free herself from the belt.

Kerry said her mother was so scared she was hesitant to tell the family.

“She was afraid that he would come back. She was even afraid to go back to her home.

“You see your mum every day and you think, ‘How does she cope with this? How is she going to cope with this?’ It never leaves you.”

But she was amazed at the strength her mother had shown, staying in the home she has lived in for 58 years.

She did not sustain physical injuries, police said.

The man is described as being in his early 30s, 175cm tall with a thin build.

He was wearing a black top, black pants and a black short-brimmed hat. A jacket was covering most of his face.

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.