Pamela Bileski has been in and out of the hospital several times since she was attacked with a knife three weeks ago.
The mother of five children says that on March 21, she received a call from her 18-year-old daughter asking her to pick her up from a downtown apartment. She was there hanging out with some female friends and a boyfriend of one of them.
“She video called me, and she was in another room, and she said ‘We’re in the living room, and that girl was in the room with that guy, and they’re telling me and my friend to come into the bedroom with them,’” says Bileski. “And she’s like, ‘I’m really uncomfortable, can you please hurry.’”
She said the boyfriend, a man in his 50s, was allegedly trying to give them money and alcohol in exchange for sex.
Bileksi arrived with another person for backup, and they and Bileski’s daughter went up to the apartment to confront the man. She says the scene ended with the man picking up a large knife that looked like a meat cleaver.
Get daily National news
Bileski ran but says the man lunged at her and hit her in the shoulder with the weapon. She was able to get outside and call 911. She describes struggling to stay conscious as paramedics tended to her.
“I felt like passing out, but I knew if I passed out — I thought I was gonna die,” she says. “So, I just kept telling myself, ‘Stay awake.’”
She ended up with a large gash on her right shoulder that needed 24 staples. She was discharged from the hospital the next day, but the wound has re-opened several times since then, requiring more hospital visits.
Winnipeg police say they are investigating the incident but haven’t confirmed any details, including whether charges have been laid.
Bileski says she still hasn’t emotionally processed the incident.
“I didn’t even cry until like, three days later, because of the shock. And when I think about it, it’s like I’m reliving that moment. I didn’t know if I was gonna die in that apartment. And then, my kids …” she says, trailing off.
Bileski, who is Inuit, wanted to speak up about her experience to raise awareness that young Indigenous women are often taken advantage of.
“I don’t want to see other young people, or any people, go through that — to be taken advantage of because they don’t have money, or they don’t have family or resources,” she says.
Comments