An elderly Abbotsford man is in hospital and struggling to understand why he was shoved to the ground Friday morning by a stranger.
The 89-year-old victim has a fractured hip and doctors have told him that, after surgery, he will require a cane to walk and will likely suffer chronic pain for the rest of his life, according to his grandson.
Kartar – whose family didn’t want his last name used – was walking on South Fraser Way near Clearbrook Road Friday around 11 a.m. when a man walking the other direction “pushed him down and walked away,” according to his grandson, Sunny. Kartar was unable to get up, and remained on the ground for 10 to 15 minutes, until another person noticed him, came to his aid and called paramedics.
Kartar had maintained his independence and, despite some concern from his family, occasionally takes the bus around Abbotsford to shop.
“We tell him to stay home, but he likes to be independent and out on the town,” his grandson said. “Considering his age, he was remarkably fit and active and independent.”
Kartar, who moved to Canada 30 years ago, is “nice and friendly” and “keeps to himself,” Sunny said.
Now, though, he is “sad and depressed,” said Sunny, who spent six hours with his grandfather Friday.
Kartar told his grandson: “I don’t have any enemies and I don’t understand why this happened to me and why he did this to me.”
The randomness of the attack has left Sunny to consider whether the attacker targeted his grandfather because of his ethnicity and turban. And he worries that the attacker could could hurt others.
“We just wanted to warn people. We don’t want this to happen to somebody else.”
Sunny noted that the fall could have been even worse, if his grandfather had hit his head.
Sunny said police are investigating and reviewing surveillance footage from a nearby business to try and identify the attacker. He said his grandfather did not get a good look at the man before the attack.
Abbotsford Police say they are investigating and don’t yet have information to call the attack a hate crime – although more interviews still need to be conducted.
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