Family of Lethbridge assault victim say faith is helping her heal
Father-in-law of 25-year-old victim says she is able to talk and has taken a few steps
He had every reason to be angry. His 25-year-old daughter-in-law lay in a hospital emergency room on life support.
The young woman's head was swollen from blunt-force trauma; her normally fair skin was purple. She had two black eyes and was hooked up to breathing tubes.
"They had a machine running every function of her body," said her father-in-law, who CBC is not naming due to a publication ban on the young woman's identity.
"There was blood coming out of her ears."
Despite her grave condition, he says the family didn't turn to anger over the violent attack that nearly took her life on Sept. 30. Instead, they focused on prayer and her recovery.
"We knew within our hearts she would be okay," he said.
Five weeks later, she's gradually gaining strength, saying a few words and standing up with help.
He believes their prayers and focus on her recovery — rather than on any anger — have helped her slowly get better.
Couple were newlyweds
The young woman and her husband married in July after being together for eight years.
They were renting an apartment not far from where she was ambushed while walking to work.
She texted her husband while she was on her way to start her 7 a.m. shift at a local restaurant.
I said, 'No, she'll be fine. She'll walk out of here. She'll recover.- Victim's father-in-law
But shortly after, he received a call from one of her colleagues saying she hadn't shown up.
With the help of his stepmother, they scoured the area looking for her — until they saw police tape in an alley.
Investigators say a man randomly approached the young woman while she was walking to work, struck her in the head with a weapon and then dragged her to an alley where he sexually assaulted her.
She was left so badly wounded she could easily have died had it not been for a passerby who found her.
According to his father, the young man has barely left his wife's bedside at Foothills Hospital since the attack.
Family maintaining faith
Her father-in-law insists he and his family believed deeply that she would survive despite what he describes as physicians' warnings that she might succumb to the trauma or have to be taken off life support.
He said doctors asked for permission "to unplug her," around her third day in hospital. She was in a medically-induced coma.
They warned the family there was a high chance she would "be a vegetable" if she lived, he said.
"I said, 'No, she'll be fine. She'll walk out of here. She'll recover.'" Her father-in-law said the doctors thought the family were in denial.
But since the tragedy, he said, his family has prayed for her. Many in Lethbridge have offered money and words of support.
How would being angry help? Being angry about something that's already happened, helps no one.- Victim's father-in-law
He believes that positive energy has helped.
"With a positive-faith belief, she's recovering faster than ever could've been imagined," he said.
"We're five weeks in ... and she's standing up and walking, small steps — with help — she's talking again, she's active, she's eating. And they wanted us to unplug her on day three? Can you deny that kind of faith?"
Choosing love over anger
The family harbours no ill-will toward the man accused of the crime, her father-in-law said.
"How would being angry help?" he asked.
"Being angry about something that's already happened helps no one. ... How would being angry help my son cope with what happened to his wife?"
Someone else's rage, he said, put his daughter-in-law's life in danger.
"Nothing good has ever come out of anger, " he said, "That's why we're here."
Denzel Bird, 20, is in custody, facing multiple charges in connection to this case, including attempted murder, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, and aggravated assault.
So far people in Lethbridge have raised about $40,000 to help the young couple.
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