An elderly Asian woman successfully beat up a much younger man who had allegedly assaulted her in San Francisco.

She turned the tables on her attacker by using a piece of wood she found on the street, U.S. media have reported.

Possibly racially motivated

The elderly woman, Xiao Zhen Xie, is reportedly 75 or 76 years old.

She was attacked on San Francisco's Market Street while waiting to cross the road at a traffic light.

Her attacker was a 39-year-old man, who has been identified by the police.

The suspect's name has not yet been released.

Witnesses said the man punched the elderly woman in the face.

She then defended herself by picking up a piece of wood she found on the road.

Video showed aftermath of assault

A video of the aftermath of the attack has been posted on Twitter, showing the younger man in a worse off position.

https://twitter.com/DennisKPIX/status/1372241168663076864

Some of the responses to the video have pointed out the absurdity of the situation though.

The younger man was allowed to use the stretcher, while the elderly woman was left standing and attending to her own injuries.

Xie can be seen holding an ice pack to her left black eye.

The blonde man appears to have been handcuffed to a stretcher, as he laid there bleeding from the mouth.

But it could also be the case that the younger man ended up being beaten up more badly.

Xie can be heard shouting at the man in Cantonese, saying: "You bum, why did you hit me?"

The San Francisco police are also investigating the same suspect in connection to the beating of an 83-year-old Asian man before Xie was attacked.

The authorities are determining if the attacks were racially motivated.

Elderly woman traumatised

Xie and her daughter spoke to media about the alleged attack.

The daughter said her mother could not see out of her left eye and had not been able to eat.

Xie's grandson John Chen started a GoFundMe page to raise funds for his grandmother's medical treatment and therapy.

Chen wrote that his grandmother has "two serious black eyes" and one of them is bleeding non-stop.

He also wrote: "Her wrist has also swelled up. She has been severely affected mentally, physically, and emotionally."

Chen added that his grandmother told him she was traumatised and terrified and "afraid to step out of her home from now on."

"I am amazed by her bravery. She was the one that defended herself from this unprovoked attack," he said.