WARNING: This article contains graphic details and photos that some readers may find disturbing.
At just 14 years old, Braydon Heather is facing months of surgeries and rehabilitation after being viciously assaulted and found in Beaumont.
“He is still sedated because there is swelling in his brain they can’t quite get under control,” family friend Melanie Aube said. “They aren’t going to wake him up until they get that under control. He is in stable condition.”
RCMP said the teen was found at 1:35 a.m. on June 21 with serious head injuries near a construction site in the area of Rideau Crescent. Officers were initially unable to identify him and called on the public for help.
“He is getting better,” Aube said. “They are confident that he will be in the hospital for probably a few weeks. However, it probably could be a year or more for full recovery.”
READ MORE: Youth charged with attempted murder after teen’s assault in Beaumont
Family friends say Braydon was cut across the face “like The Joker,” which damaged his transverse jugular vein and left ear. They say the cuts on his hands and arms required hundreds of stitches and his right elbow, left wrist and both sides of his jaw are broken.
Police have arrested and charged a youth in connection with the assault. The person – who cannot be named – is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault.
The youth is scheduled to appear in court in Leduc on July 8.
“How one person can do this to another person is horrific to me,” Aube said.
READ MORE: RCMP identify teenage boy found with serious injuries near Edmonton
Braydon’s mother, who consented to her son’s name being released, did not feel ready to speak to Global News, but gave a friend permission to speak on their behalf.
“Tuesday afternoon Amber called me and said, ‘I don’t know if you’ve read the paper but the boy found in Beaumont was my son’… I sat on the curb and I just started crying. I couldn’t believe it when she told me what had happened.”
Aube and Rhonda Brimacombe-Tricker set up a gofundme page to raise money to help support the family. As of Monday afternoon, $18,000 had been raised.
“She’s going to have to quit her job,” Brimacombe-Tricker explained. “There’s going to be a lot of recovery, rehabilitation in the future and she just has to focus on that. She can’t be worrying about if her rent’s going to be paid or if there’s going to be food on the table.
“Amber is a wonderful person… she has a huge huge heart. She would do it for any of her friends… I think we definitely owe it to her,” Brimacombe-Tricker said.
“She’s a single parent and she needs our help.”
Both friends describe Braydon as energetic, athletic and always on the go.
Seeing the Grade 8 student in the condition he’s in now has been difficult.
“Shocking because there are tubes,” Aube said. “He’s on a breathing tube and a feeding tube… just the scars on his face and head were frightening.”
“My heart just sunk so far,” Brimacombe-Tricker. “No words can describe that. It’s just horrible.”
“I have a son the same age,” she said. “It breaks my heart.”