The family of the woman pushed off a CTrain platform onto the tracks earlier this week is speaking out about her life-altering injuries.
On Thursday, police charged a 35-year-old woman with attempted murder after Rozalia Meichl, 64, was pushed in front of a train arriving at the Victoria Park/Stampede station in Calgary.
Police said the train was able to stop in time, but the attack was random and the injuries are life-changing. Meichl was at an assisted living facility prior to the incident and will now need more care.
Meichl’s family confirmed she suffered a severed spine and will not walk again, adding that she’ll remain in hospital for at least four months and will require full-time help after that.
“My mother is now 100 per cent paraplegic,” said Charmaine Newman. “She will be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. She has no feeling below her chest area and she will require help around the clock.”
“I cried the whole way here thinking I was going to bury my mother Thursday.”
Newman was at the Foothills Medical Centre ICU on Saturday and said her mother is in stable, non-life-threatening condition.
“She is a fighter,” she said of the recovery process.
“This woman will walk miles and miles and miles for a cause she believes in,” Newman added, citing her mom’s participation in breast cancer walks.
“She will give you the shirt off her back. She just loves life.”
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help with recovery costs, including rehabilitation, medical bills and long-term care.
“I want justice for my mom, for sure,” Newman said. “My mom wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
“This person was released,” she added. “She’s got an extensive history. Why was she allowed to be out to harm an innocent, elderly, disabled bystander?”