22-05-2025
‘Felt like I was body slammed:' Senior attacked by complete stranger in Downtown Vancouver
A senior was attacked by a stranger in Downtown Vancouver on Friday, May 16.
A 70-year-old Vancouver man was simply on his way to plug a parking meter, when he was suddenly pushed to the ground by a complete stranger.
As he was walking on Homer Street around 3 p.m. Friday, he glanced at his phone and vaguely noticed a man in the distance.
Then he heard his head crack.
'It felt like I was body-slammed or shoved backwards, onto the pavement,' said the victim, who CTV News is not identifying, from his home.
'You're wondering, 'What's going on, what's happening?' as I'm falling backwards. And when my head hit the pavement, you still don't understand what's just gone on.'
He told CTV News that when he looked up, he could see his attacker casually walking away, and heard him say, ''Oh sorry man,' or 'whoops.''
'At that point, I raised my head, and I realized there was an awful lot of blood coming out of my head,' he said
Two Good Samaritans rushed to his side and brought him indoors.
Paramedics found a piece of glass at the back of his head and sent him to hospital for stitches.
'I feel so grateful this wasn't horrific,' he said, pointing out that several innocent people have been stabbed in unprovoked attack over recent years in the same area.
He argued Canada needs tougher laws and is calling on the federal government to make it a priority.
'I've always been aware of what's going on around me, but what I've noticed in the last week, if suddenly somebody appears beside me when I'm waiting to cross the street, and I didn't see them approach, I kind of shutter,' he told CTV News.
'There's times where you sort of think about how lucky you are, for one thing, and how much worse it could have been,' said the senior.
Derrick James McFeeters, was arrested on Granville Street, and is facing a charge of assault causing bodily harm.
