The man found unconscious and bleeding on a downtown Nanaimo street last week has been identified.
Former football player Travis Schug, 24, was out celebrating the start of spring training camp with members of the Vancouver Island Raiders football club last Sunday when he reportedly became separated from his group.
The six-foot-two and 325-pound man was later found outside the Harbor City Dance Studio at the intersection of Bastion St. and Skinner at approximately 3 a.m. Sunday morning.
Schug was suffering from a fractured skull and was rushed to Nanaimo Regional general Hospital and then airlifted to Victoria, where he was put in a medically-induced coma.
Nanaimo RCMP Constable Gary O’Brien said the unconscious man had wounds consistent with being in some form of altercation, but when Schug regained consciousness on Tuesday he was unable to recall anything that happened that night.
O’Brien said interviews with witnesses indicate Schug attended several clubs that night, but the exact details of what happened, as a result, remain murky.
Schug works at Jim’s Gym in Parksville and owner Jim Miller said he and his staff were shocked to hear about the incident.
“He’s a very nice guy, kind of an easygoing, happy-go-lucky kind of guy,” Miller said.
“That’s one of the reasons this is such a shock. I feel for his family, because he was in pretty bad shape for a while.”
Miller said the apparent senselessness of the incident.
“Sometimes I get a little angry because of the circumstance,” he said.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lots of people are suffering because of what happened. It was so pointless.”
Miller said he and his staff are hoping for a full recovery and to see him back at work in the near future.
