It took just nine minutes to destroy the life John Smith spent decades building.
He was walking his daughter to school April 1, 2016, with her backpack slung over his shoulder.
鈥淲e had literally just stopped holding hands after crossing the road and he got us,鈥� said Smith, who asked to use a pseudonym for this article, due to ongoing fears of his assailant.
Using the backpack, a man who has since been identified by the courts as Marc Andrew Fines, pulled Smith toward him and repeatedly punched him in the back of his head. Smith turned around at some point and incurred countless more shots to his face.
Eventually he was overcome by the weight of the attack and fell to the ground where the beating continued.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 remember any of it, but I know what I鈥檝e been told,鈥� he said.
鈥淢y daughter watched the whole thing鈥� it was about nine minutes. They call it an attack on me, but I call it an attack on her. She was put in a position where she was helpless.鈥�
As Smith was pummelled, his 8-year-old daughter stood silently in the middle of the street, fearing the attack would worsen or turn toward her if she said anything.
She wanted someone to stop and help, and eventually they did.
Some ladies came out of the Ellis Street Bliss Bakery and tried to chase him down.
Fines got into a grey Ford sedan, and tried to run them all down.
Mounties got wind of the attack and started to look for Fines. A Mountie who had been at the Queensway bus loop drove toward him and Fines allegedly rammed into his cruiser, accelerating before impact.
According to a press release from Cpl. Jesse O鈥橠onaghey the day of the attack, Fines then allegedly advanced on the stunned police officer from the open driver鈥檚 side window of his cruiser.
鈥淣earby construction workers were quick to jump into action to assist the police officer,鈥� said O鈥橠onaghey. 鈥淭hey aided the officer in controlling the suspect who was subsequently taken into police custody.鈥�
The story made headlines across the city, largely for the violence against the Mountie and related heroics from nearby construction workers. What was lost in the police rendering was how significantly injured Smith was, and what it really means to survive a life-altering assault.
鈥淭hey made what happened to me sound like two kids fighting over a toy,鈥� said Smith, referring to police continually referring to his attack as a backpack theft.
鈥�(From the attack) I lost my memories of my daughter as a baby and lost my memory of my dad and family. So now that I have a brain injury and mental illness where does that put me if he got off? I am happy one day and depressed the next. I just want my life back.鈥�
鈥淎NYWHERE ANYTIME鈥︹��
Mark Fines was found not criminally responsible for his violent rampage through 91大黄鸭.
The Criminal Code explains that while he did commit the acts he was accused of, it was 鈥渨hile suffering from a mental disorder that rendered him incapable of appreciating the nature or quality of the act or of knowing that it was wrong.鈥�
Next Tuesday the matter will be before a three-person panel from the B.C. Review Board at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam, where Fines is being held.
Meanwhile, Smith just finished the victim impact statement that will be read at that hearing and it鈥檚 caused him to look at his life more closely. For one thing, he doesn鈥檛 like being called a victim, but given his helplessness in the situation the title fits.
Not long after the incident, Smith was asked to speak at an event about victims of violence. He told his story, and someone in the audience said he should be ashamed for taking his daughter out downtown so late in the evening.
When he told her the attack they suffered was at 8 a.m., in a neighbourhood surrounded by high-end condos the crowd went silent.
鈥溾�楢nywhere, anytime, anyplace, anyone 鈥� that鈥檚 basically how I look at attacks now,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 now an odd thing. I notice (potential safety threats) all the time. I saw a lady while I was walking downtown the other day and she was leaning into her car with her back facing the street and I thought, 鈥榶ou know, what an easy target.鈥欌��
In addition to continually identifying where problems could arise, he doesn鈥檛 enjoy walking around his neighbourhood. That, however, is just the tip of the iceberg.
INVISIBLE DAMAGE
Smith doesn鈥檛 bear the physical scars of his attack, and is pleasant to speak with. There are no strange tics or behaviours that send up red flags.
But that doesn鈥檛 mean he鈥檚 OK. In fact, surface level normalcy is almost a disadvantage.
鈥淚 cry a lot. I get emotional easy,鈥� he said, explaining that he鈥檚 overwhelmed by the volume of tasks his brain has to sort through to do the simplest of things, like making coffee.
In the time since his injury he鈥檚 created plans that allow him to function, but if something goes awry it鈥檚 hard to recover.
Not long ago, as an example, he needed to get gas. The station he usually uses was too far away so he had to go elsewhere.
There the digital screen on the pump didn鈥檛 allow gas to flow until he answered whether he wanted a car wash, and he couldn鈥檛 process how to move forward.
As he felt the pressure mount he went into a car and Googled what to do on his smart phone, rather than speaking to the teenager in the store who would likely have been confounded by the simplicity of the questions.
It would have frustrated them both. This is why Smith actually has sympathy for his attacker.
鈥淚 can see why people who have brain injuries get tasered,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou get used to independence, and as an adult you should be able to do certain things. It鈥檚 frustrating when you can鈥檛 do it and when people try to help it鈥檚 even more frustrating.鈥�
AFTER THE HEADLINES
鈥淧eople have often asked me why I鈥檓 not angry at the guy who did this,鈥� Smith said.
鈥淚 mean, there is some anger there, but I鈥檓 not mad at him. I鈥檓 more mad at the system.鈥�
For people dealing with invisible barriers like brain injuries or mental health problems, it鈥檚 hard to find the right kind of help.
He has a counsellor funded through victim services limited, but there鈥檚 been little to help with the life expenses that have piled up since the incident.
He didn鈥檛 have a job at the time, so he can鈥檛 get any wage loss supplement. Also, it will take a couple of years before it鈥檚 clear whether his brain injury is permanent, so he can鈥檛 get any assistance from that. He could get social assistance, but then he鈥檇 lose his rental assistance. While he treads water, he鈥檚 having a hard time finding a path forward.
鈥淭he attitude of service providers is, 鈥榠f you don鈥檛 come to us we鈥檙e not coming to you,鈥欌�� he said.
Trouble is, he doesn鈥檛 know where to go because he鈥檚 starting life anew.
鈥淧eople think, 鈥榦h, he looks normal,鈥� so I must be high-functioning,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he less normal I look the more help I鈥檇 get, but then you get treated like that and I鈥檓 never going to get any help in that way.鈥�
Someone once told him he鈥檇 be better off if he鈥檇 committed a crime. Then the system would wrap around him. The shortcomings of the system are why he鈥檚 sharing his story.
STARTLING STATISTICS
Roughly 80 per cent of Canadian prison inmates have sustained a brain injury, said Marcie McLeod, director of client services, for BrainTrust Canada, in 91大黄鸭.
It鈥檚 no coincidence, she explained. Once a person suffers a brain injury they have to deal with everything from a change in personality to memory impairments, which can cause more problems.
鈥淏ut the biggest one is impaired judgment and inability to control impulsivity,鈥� said McLeod.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had clients who are in a store, who think, 鈥業 want some cheese鈥� and they don鈥檛 think of the consequences of taking the cheese.鈥�
In some cases people are quick to anger or don鈥檛 have good control or emotional management, and that causes even more side effects, like turning to drugs and alcohol, and the downward spiral can continue from there.
鈥淲e talk about brain injury being an invisible disability,鈥� she said. 鈥淣obody can see you are struggling in your brain. All of our clients say, 鈥榠f you go in with a wheelchair, they would know what your disability is or what your challenges are.鈥欌��
Trying to explain how your cognitive deficits play out鈥攖hat鈥檚 an invisible problem.
For their part, BrainTrust just tries to support clients as they navigate a new world.
鈥淓ven if it鈥檚 just a personality change, people maybe don鈥檛 have the patience to deal with other agencies or maybe feeling overwhelmed or over-stimulated by dealing with that many service agencies,鈥� she said.
While Smith tries to navigate his world, his family is doing what they can to help him get the financial support he needs. They recently started a GoFundMe titled where they further describe the challenges ahead of them.
