Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Canadian wheelchair user savagely beaten in Australia

From The Canadian Press:


A 35-year-old Canadian man who uses a wheelchair is in a Sydney, Australia hospital after being badly beaten by two teenagers.

Police say the man, reportedly from Winnipeg, was waiting for a train late Tuesday when he was approached and verbally abused by the boys.

New South Wales police say the man tried to leave, but was punched in the face and knocked from his wheelchair.

The teens then allegedly stomped on the man and hit him with metal bars before running off with his belongings and wheelchair, only to return later to continue the beating.

The attack was captured on CCTV, click here for a link to the video.

Police say a 16-year-old boy faces assault and robbery charges and media reports in Australia say a second teen has been arrested.

The man, who lives in Mosman and is in Australia on a year-long working visa, was in stable condition in Westmead Hospital.

His girlfriend, Kristin Sharrock, said she was disgusted by the assault.

“He is a wonderful, kind, generous individual,” Ms. Sharrock told the Sydney Morning Herald. “He's been through a lot in his life and he doesn't deserve what's happened.”

The man's mother was in shock today after learning of the attack.

“I can’t believe a human being would do that to someone else,” Shellan Proden said from her home in Winnipeg Beach, 60 kilometres north of Winnipeg. “It’s like a savage.”

Ms. Proden's son, the victim of the attack, does not want to be identified.

“I’ve been told ... that they’ll have to go in and do some draining of the brain. But he’s alert, he’s talking and whatever,” she said.

The Proden family has already experienced its share of tragedy. The son has been in a wheelchair for 10 years following a snowmobile accident. That same year, another snowmobile accident killed his father.