Woman slashed in neck with machete in Vancouver stranger attack says she thought she was going to die

Warning: This story contains details that might be disturbing for some readers

A woman who was attacked by a complete stranger armed with a machete on the streets of Vancouver is sharing her story.

Around 7 p.m. Sunday, Casey Janulis and a friend were loading their luggage into the back of a cab outside the Empress Hotel on the Downtown Eastside. Janulis said a man then walked by her, carrying an umbrella.

“He looked at me almost as if I insulted him or said something but there were no words exchanged,” Janulis said. Moments later, she felt a sting on the back of her neck.

“I heard a woman’s voice scream out ‘that’s not an umbrella, that’s a machete’ and that’s when all the blood poured everywhere, in my eyes, on the pavement,” she said.

Janulis had been slashed across the base of her neck. Within minutes paramedics arrived and she was loaded into an ambulance. The last thing she remembers is her clothes being cut off with scissors and thinking, “I think I’m going to die.”

Janulis said the attacker also slashed her friend across the arm, but his injuries were less severe. Both were taken to hospital.

On Monday, Sgt. Steve Addison with the Vancouver Police Department said an officer on patrol was in the area when the attack happened and was flagged down shortly. He also issued a plea for anyone with information to come forward.

“Somebody who (Janulis and her friend) did not know approached for no apparent reason and attacked them with what we believe is a machete,” Sgt. Addison said. “There was a suspect, we do have a description.”

The suspect is described as a "heavy-set" man in his 40s. At the time, police say he was wearing a grey T-shirt, a blue raincoat, and carrying an umbrella.

Addison also told CTV News that investigators want to speak with the taxi driver who was at the scene. The vehicle was flagged down so there’s no booking record.

Janulis is now dealing with the aftermath of her attack. She has “over 30” stitches and staples holding her wound together, she has no feeling from her neck to the top of her head and said she can’t feel her hands when she first wakes up in the morning. She’s also terrified.

“Like sitting here, if somebody walks by, I’m jumpy,” she said.

Janulis doesn’t live in Vancouver. On the day of the attack she was visiting a friend and in the process of moving to the Sunshine Coast to work on her art. But since the attack she’s been living in a hotel away from the Downtown Eastside.

“I’m not from here, I’ve never been on Hastings, I didn’t get the memo,” she said. “It’s costing me a lot of money to stay there (the hotel) but I need to stay close to the hospital.”

Janulis said she’s been reading articles about Vancouver’s recent history with stranger assaults, and it’s a reason she decided to speak out and push for changes.

“I just feel like there shouldn’t be some people walking amongst us with that kind of mental illness,” she said. “I just want the guy off the streets, for everybody. Because that could have been anybody. It happened to be me but… thank God I’m here.”