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Heartbreak and outrage as 89-year-old victim of Courtenay machete attack recovers in hospital

WARNING: graphic image
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The VI Free Daily would not normally run a photo as graphic as the one embedded in this article. However, family friends of the victim have requested that the photo be shared in an effort to draw attention to the crime, and in hope of capturing the man responsible.

WARNING: graphic image

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After Raymond Corbett visited his friend, Bob, in hospital Wednesday morning, he was compelled to post what he saw to Facebook.

“I’m almost speechless, but have to share,” Corbett said in his Facebook thread. “This is the closest person I have to a grandfather we call him grampa Bob. He was with my grandmother for the last 15 years of her life. He was attacked with a [machete] this morning while waiting for newspapers on 5th st in Courteney as he and my grandmother have done for as long as I can remember.”

While waiting for his newspapers to arrive, to begin his regular morning deliveries, Bob was attacked by a man in his 20s.

RELATED: 89-year-old attacked with machete

According to the RCMP release, Bob was inside his vehicle parked on the 400-block of 5th Street at approximately 4:15 a.m. when he was approached by a man on a bicycle who asked him for a cigarette. Bob told the man that he did not have any cigarettes before the man assaulted him with what appeared to be a machete.

“My heart is broken thinking someone could do such a thing to another human person,” Corbett said on his Facebook page. “Please share this I want this person caught he is in his 20’s riding a bike that’s all I know as of now. There were other people around that seen this individual before this happened .”

The community has responded to the post with an outflow of support and outrage. (You will have to scroll down to see the post).

A gofundme site has also been launched by Janelle Karatsikis to help Bob in his recovery.

Black Press Media has reached out to Corbett for more information.

To see the photo, click on the Juxtapose emblem.



Terry Farrell

About the Author: Terry Farrell

Terry returned to Black Press in 2014, after seven years at a daily publication in Alberta. He brings 14 years of editorial experience to Comox Valley Record...
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