A VICTIM OF SENSELESS STABBING RECOVER, LEGAL FUNDS TO SUE

Hello,

My name is Jeremy and at approximately 12:30AM on Friday, January 31st, 2025, I was stabbed with an illegal switchblade by a coward (pictured, wearing glasses in black jacket) in Yaletown, Vancouver, who gave no warning and no reasons for the attack.

I had recently got engaged to my girlfriend who is an Italian citizen, so I had stayed up until midnight until she was awake in Italy to speak to her on the phone. I went downstairs and stood about 10 meters from my building front door to have a cigarette, when I noticed a male and a female walking toward me. I didn't pay any attention to them but the male was on a video call and started filming me with his phone and sticking his phone just a couple inches from my face. I told him to get out of my face, but he was looking for a fight and looking to provoke me, by asking me things like "where are you from" multiple times (which leads me to believe this may have been racially-motivated; I am Korean-Canadian).

I didn't want to engage in conversation with him, so I slapped his phone out of my face, but he didn't walk away, and kept trying to start a conversation, by asking who I was on the phone with, and again asking me where I was from. When he approached me a second time, I swatted his phone out of his hand again which fell on the road. He then went to the road to look for his phone while yelling and swearing at me, at which point I took pictures of him. After a few moments when he couldn't find his phone, he approached me, yet again standing just a few inches from me, and without any warning he pulled out a switchblade with a blade roughly 4 or 5 inches long and started stabbing. I didn't feel any pain but when I looked down I could see blood gushing out of my body and jacket sleeve, and realized I had been seriously wounded. I tried to walk back into my building lobby but his female friend stood in my way and when I turned around the male punched me in the face and fractured my nose. I got the keys out of my pocket and walked into my lobby and tried to call 911, but the female had followed me in and was holding the lobby door open, presumably for her male friend to follow in and finish me off.

After I fumbled for a minute or so trying to wipe all the blood off my fingers and phone to unlock it, I got the Vancouver police on the line, and when the female saw that, she ran away. I chased after her, and when I was outside I couldn't see the male, just the female running towards the Yaletown Skytrain Station across the street. I ran after her and chased her to the skytrain; she had boarded the train but when people started staring at her because I was telling them what happened, she got off the train and started to go back out the station, where the police arrived and arrested her.

I was transported to the hospital where they discovered the knife that pierced my forearm (had gone in and out the other side) had permanently cut an artery, damaged some nerves and muscle. I am still waiting for the feeling to return to the tips of my fingers, and I cannot grip anything or move my wrist without considerable pain. I had also suffered stab wounds to my left chest and side of my ribs, but luckily they had missed my vital organs; if the stab wound to my chest was a little more to the centre or the stab to my ribs was a bit deeper, I most likely would not be alive right now. The doctors discovered I had a broken nose, a hematoma on the side of my body from the stabbing, lost over a litre of blood, and I suffered a vasovagal episode and briefly lost consciousness.

During my stay at the hospital I learned that the male perpetrator had also been arrested shortly after the female, which was the only piece of good news I received. I learnt that the female, even though she had been a willing accomplice in this attempted murder and senseless violent assault, had not been charged and was released almost immediately. The male, who could've easily killed me, was charged with assault with a deadly weapon but was not even held in jail for a full day and was also released the same day to roam free.

Upon speaking to police investigators, I was told that it is very unlikely he would see any jail time; the Canadian justice system is extremely weak and ineffective, so for an 18-year-old like him with no serious prior criminal history, the most he would get is probation. Probation, for starting a fight and using an illegal switchblade like a coward to nearly kill a person. He was also back on the streets even before I was discharged from the hospital, and knowing my home address and my face and likely my name, there was nothing stopping him from coming back to attack again. After all, what more does he have to lose at this point?

I consulted with a lawyer about starting a civil lawsuit against this punk for damages, but there is a very low likelihood that he has any assets and any ability to pay. I was also quoted nearly $50,000 in legal fees to bring forth a civil case. Even if I do not collect any money, even as a moral victory I will pursue legal action so that it will follow him forever and to set an example against people thinking of committing such violent crimes, and for victims of senseless crimes that there may be some recourse.

The funds from this fundraiser will not only go toward a retainer for a civil lawyer, it will also go toward my road to recovery. To sponsor my fiancee for citizenship in Canada and to support a new life together, I had recently accepted a job couple weeks prior, and I was set to start my new job on Feb 3rd, 2025. Because of the stabbing, I had to delay the start of my new job indefinitely, and I am also not in any mental shape to do any work, as the painkillers and antibiotics I am on constantly make me drowsy and dizzy. My fiancee was also due to join me in Vancouver on Feb 10th, 2025 and having only one arm to help her settle in and work around the house will be difficult, and the funds will also be used to offset the help I would have to hire. It is also very likely I will have to pay for a plastic surgeon to reconstruct my nose because I was told only with enough proof that my nose is significantly different in form and function than before the assault, MSP would pay for the reconstructive surgery; I am not very hopeful on this.

If we get enough people behind this campaign, hopefully it draws attention to the lackluster legal justice system in Canada and hopefully start a movement towards change.

Thank you,

Jeremy