Vancouver coffee shop stabbing victim speaks out about his terrifying ordeal
The bandages are a painful reminder of an experience Miguel Angel Zepeda Machorro wishes he could forget. The 25-year-old Mexican man is visiting Vancouver, and was the victim of a vicious attack inside a downtown Tim Hortons last week.
He doesn’t speak English, but, through a translator, he told CTV News about the terrifying ordeal, and how he feared for his life.
"He says he's having a lot of pain around the area where the two stabbings went in on the side and in his arm," said Machorro’s translator. "He feels a lot of anxiety. He feels that when he's outside, he says that he feels somebody's going to attack him in the back. He feels insecure, anywhere he goes."
On Saturday, Jan. 22, Vancouver police say the 25-year-old was rushed to hospital with life-threatening stab wounds. The attack occurred around 6:20 a.m. inside the Tim Hortons at Harbour Centre, near Seymour and West Hastings streets. The victim, a newcomer to Canada, was waiting in line when the suspect approached from behind and repeatedly stabbed him in the back and shoulder before running out of the store. Police took the rare step of releasing surveillance video of the attack, due to their increasing worry about the public’s safety.
Thanks to a number of tips from the public, Vancouver police say they made an arrest in the case on Tuesday, Jan. 25, shortly after 4 p.m. near Granville and Helmcken streets. Twenty-seven-year-old David Richard Morin has been charged with one count of aggravated assault. He remains in custody.
"He says he hopes he's not let go, to be free out with everybody else,” Machorro’s translator said. “It happened to him it can happen to anybody else as well."
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with medical bills totalling in the thousands of dollars, as well as other expenses, to help his recovery.
"He remembers going into the Tim Hortons,” said Machorro’s translator. “He says he remembers lining up and a person walked by on his side and then all of a sudden he fell. Then, after he watched the video he realized it didn't happen in his mind the way he was thinking.”
With no family in Vancouver, Machorro says he is thankful for all of the support and messages he has been getting from the community. Doctors say he is incredibly lucky to have even survived. They told him if the knife was two centimetres in a different direction, there’s a very good chance he might have died. Doctors say his physical wounds should take up to two months to heal, but the attack, of course, has had severe negative implications on his mental health.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW 'Oh my God, you're my brother': Manitoba man discovers six unknown siblings
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
No refund for travellers who cancelled flight already scrapped by airline: regulator
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Canucks hold off Oilers for 4-3 win in Game 3
Brock Boeser had two goals and an assist, and the Vancouver Canucks hung on for a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Man fatally 'slashed in the neck' in downtown Toronto, suspect outstanding
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise's disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.