A former North Okanagan man who suffered longtime physical and emotional injury after an unprovoked blow to the face has been awarded $200,000 in a court battle nearly 10 years in the making.
However, whether that money will materialize remains to be seen.
His attacker, Jason Townsend, a man with a long criminal history, recently died from injuries sustained in a car crash.
It’s a fact that goes unaddressed in a court decision posted on Monday. Justice Dennis K Hori awarded Cameron Alexander McRae $200,000 in damages for injuries incurred May 19, 2013 at Kelowna strip club, the Liquid Zoo Show Lounge Bar and Grill. There was a hearing addressing damages in early October, and Townsend did not appear for that. He earlier filed a counterclaim that was dismissed.
McRae, who was raised in Coldstream though lived in Calgary, was at the Liquid Zoo for a friend’s bachelor party when a man named Jason Townsend busted in on that celebration and struck McRae in the face with a single punch.
Justice Hori said it was an unprovoked act and caught McRae by surprise.
“After the assault, (McRae) recalls being dragged across the floor of the bar with bright lights flashing and music playing,” Hori wrote.
“He next recalls being in the washroom splashing water on his bloody face and then he recalls being in the hospital.”
In Hori’s decision, he said CT scans on the day following the assault revealed a left-sided zygoma fracture and a coronoid process fracture on the left side of the plaintiff’s mandible. To repair the fracture of the left zygoma, McRae had a surgery that required two plates and various screws.
In addition to the facial fractures, the plaintiff suffered a concussion, damage to eight teeth, and soft tissue injuries to his neck. For that he required two to three procedures for each root canal.
Early in his recovery, Hori said McRae was on a liquid diet due to his jaw injury. He was told to avoid bright lights, noises and strenuous thinking due to his concussion and had to move into his parents’ house in the downstairs area where there were no windows and minimal noise.
In addition to continual pain, he suffered psychological impacts, had trouble sleeping and experienced frequent nightmares about the incident, Hori wrote.
After approximately six weeks, the plaintiff was able to return to part-time work with North American Construction Group. He eventually returned to full-time work before his internship ended, though he successfully argued in court that the years that followed were a struggle and his recovery came with a significant wage loss.
Hori ruled Townsend to pay $200,000 in compensation, along with $5,000 to cover health care costs.
Townsend is described in a 2014 Vancouver Sun article as a former member of the Renegades biker gang. He was sentenced that year to two years in jail for a vicious attack on three people in Prince George.
In a GoFundMe put up in November, after what turned out to be a fatal injury, Townsend is described by family members as “the type of guy that would do anything for the people he cares about or even strangers if they asked for help.”
McRae also sued the Liquid Zoo, but in that case he’s said to have settled out of court.