WARNING: There are graphic photos and details included in this article.
After a brazen Sunday morning attack left an Edmonton man seriously injured with multiple stab wounds, cuts and damaged teeth, his wife is speaking about what happened.
“It was shocking. It was a lot to process when you’re half asleep and the words were basically: ‘I’m really sorry, I’ve been attacked,'” said the woman, who Global News is not identifying out of concerns for their safety.
“It was a lot. It was instant sort of shock and stress mode.”
According to police, a man was walking his dog near 101A Avenue and 67th Street just after 5 a.m. on May 5 when he was assaulted by two suspects “with edged weapons.” Police said the victim sustained serious, non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital in stable condition.
The suspects ran away and have not been apprehended. The police investigation continues.
The victim’s wife told Global News she and her husband have lived in the area of Terrace Heights for 25 years. They’ve always had dogs and have walked them in this neighbourhood without any issues until last weekend.
There are sometimes coyotes in the field nearby, so her husband often walks with a flashlight and a stick.
Just after 5 a.m. on May 5, she got a call from her husband. He’d noticed two youths — a male and a female — following him on his walk with their 14-year-old dog.
“The male took his machete out and showed it to my husband, made it clear something was about to happen, and so my husband prepared to defend himself and his dog and then the male yelled for the female to come back, and she came back and the two of them attacked him,” the woman said.
“He had — I believe it was 20 stabs to his back, five to the front, multiple hits to the face and head with the machete, of course bruising. He’s got a hematoma on his back that’s quite large.
“It wasn’t a robbery,” she said. “They never asked him for one thing. They never demanded one thing. There was just no reason. It was completely random. It’s not people he’s seen before. It’s absolutely senseless and I don’t understand.”
She said her 55-year-old husband is healing and has already started walking outside again.
“I’m having a hard time,” she said.
“I don’t know how he has stayed himself,” the woman admitted. “He is a very cheery person. He’s a very positive person. He keeps saying he is glad it was him and not one of our elderly neighbours that walk their dogs or a child or somebody else who maybe wouldn’t have made it.
“He’s very grateful to the neighbour who happened to see some of it through their window and call 911, and also was diligent enough to holler out … ‘What’s going on out there?’ which I believe is why the attackers didn’t finish killing him, to be honest.”
Their dog, while physically uninjured, has been affected by the attack too, she said.
“We’ve always had a happy dog. She was very depressed when I got her from police until he came home from hospital.”
The woman said she wants to make sure other citizens are educated and aware about crime and protecting themselves and others.
“I’ve gone through all the stages of grief and maybe I spend a little more time in anger than some people would, but I’m personally angry,” she said.
“We’ve got to watch out for each other… Under the current way things are going, it’s not going to get better.”
She would like to see more police presence and perhaps a police station in the area. The Ottewel station closed in 2016.
“I’m nervous when he walks the dog now… I worry. I stay up at night. I don’t sleep too much. It’s stressful.
“It’s been a good community, and it is a good community,” she said through tears. “People have come together to be very supportive… I don’t want to be scared in my community.”
A gofundme page has been created to support the couple and the man’s recovery.
With files from Sarah Ryan, Global News