VANCOUVER -- Carl Sinclair doesn’t have any memory of being attacked in Strathcona Park back in September. When he awoke in hospital, he was shocked to discover his left leg had been amputated at the hip.
“I started to cry, “ said Sinclair from his hospital bed. And he may lose another limb.
“He’s holding onto his left arm right now, but he can’t move the fingers, so he might be losing his left arm,” said his mother, Connie Sinclair.
She thought her son was in rehab when she learned he’d been seriously injured while staying at the tent city at Strathcona Park on Sept. 21. Sinclair has no idea who would attack him or why, and was distraught to learn paramedics believe he was lying injured inside a tent for up to 12 hours before being discovered.
“I love him to pieces, man, he’s a good person," said the victim's mother. "He wouldn’t leave anybody in a tent for over 12 hours to die. Definitely not."
Vancouver police are equally aghast that no one called for help for the injured Sinclair.
“Our investigators are still investigating, still wanting any witnesses that were in the park or saw this man or saw an assault take place to please call us,” said Const. Tania Visintin.
Sinclair faces several more surgeries on his badly injured left arm, which he hopes doctors can save.
“It’s been stressful, but I’m staying strong, staying positive,” he said.
Eventually, he’ll be moved from hospital to a rehabilitation facility to learn how to live as an amputee.
“I’m just hopeful for to live my life the way I lived it before, just in a different way, “ he said.
His mom has set up an online fundraiser to help Sinclair through his recovery. She'll be with him every step of the way.
“We are all here, all his family is there for him to help him get his life back,” she said.
