A jazz musician who was beaten unconscious by a group of Surrey, B.C. teens on the weekend is out of hospital, but says he's still suffering from the attack.
Michael Taylor was bussing home from a gig at the Shangri-la hotel in downtown Vancouver late Friday night when he saw a group of five youths harassing a fellow passenger and flashing what looked like a can of bear spray.
In an exclusive interview, he told CTV News he got into an argument with the teens and one of the girls in the group allegedly used a racial slur against him. When he got off the bus, he was shocked to see how quickly the situation escalated to violence.
"I was attacked from the back. I had not idea that these young guys were going to attack me. It was a complete shock," Taylor said.
Two of the girls allegedly used their high-heeled shoes to beat Taylor.
"I'd like to say to them, if that act was taken on anybody that they loved, how would they feel?" he said.
"I just want them to know there's always a better way to deal with those kind of issues."
Taylor's still experiencing some health problems associated with the attack.
"I've definitely been experiencing dizziness and sort of trying to get my balance here and there. Wherever I was hit, I don't know if it was on my ear, the back of my head, it upset my balance a little bit," he said.
The assault comes at a stressful time; Taylor's wife Tammy is expecting the couple's second child in just a few days. She says she's still shaken from the phone call telling her that her husband had been beaten.
"They didn't care .... When he was on the ground and unconscious, they didn't stop. They could have left him with permanent serious injuries. They could have killed him," she said.
The five teens -- including two girls and three boys between the ages of 14 and 18 -- are facing charges of assault causing bodily harm.
CTV News has learned that three of the alleged attackers may be related. The two girls and a 14-year-old boy could be from the same family.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Julia Foy
