Brain Injury Blog

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Court hears attacker said pub patron ‘deserved’ devastating sucker-punch.

An unprovoked assault on Ritch Dowrey left the 62-year-old father with a “catastrophic” brain injury that means he will need lifelong assistance, Vancouver Provincial Court heard Wednesday morning. Vancouver resident Shawn Woodward has been accused of aggravated assault for hitting Dowrey on March 13, 2009, at the Fountainhead Pub on Davie Street in Vancouver’s West End.

The accused allegedly told witnesses that he sucker-punched Dowrey because “he’s a faggot — he deserved it.” Dowrey, the father of two grown children and well-known in football circles as a huge B.C. Lions fan, now lives at the Connect care home in Langley.  In her opening statement, Crown Counsel Jacinta Lawton painted a picture of devastating consequences from that evening’s assault.

Dowrey will never be able to live independently again as a result of the brain injury, and requires assistance with daily activities such as feeding and dressing, said Lawton, citing uncontested medical reports. He also needs a walker to walk and a wheelchair to go further distances, and requires verbal prompting for every action, except eating, she said.

Dowrey has no memory of the assault and as such, will not be testifying to that evening’s events. He is able to recognize his family members, many of whom packed the courtroom Wednesday, including his daughter and brother. Dowrey was not present.

Lawton said there is no dispute over the identity of the accused, the date, time and location of the incident and the fact that Woodward applied force to Dowrey. What is at issue are the events leading up to the blow and whether Woodward acted in self defence, she said.

Woodward, 35 at the time of arrest last year, appeared in court neatly dressed in a black dress shirt and dress pants. The first Crown witness to be called to the stand, Fountainhead Pub waitress, Kristi McNicholl, testified that Dowrey was a regular at the bar. That night, McNicholl said she saw Dowrey by the pool table and was about to take a shot when Woodward, who was standing on the other side of the table, walked over and punched Dowrey in the jaw and cheek, the court heard. She testified that no words were exchanged between the two men prior to the punch.

McNicholl said she immediately knew that Dowrey was rendered unconscious because he dropped his cue and fell straight backwards. “It was dead weight falling,” McNicholl said in court. “I heard the back of Ritchie’s head hit the tile [floor] at the front entrance. It was loud, it was like a pop.” McNicholl, 23, testified that she then saw Woodward step over Dowrey’s body and calmly walk out the front door of the pub.

Lawton said medical reports showed the blow led to a fractured skull and bleeding in Dowrey’s brain. Lindsay Wincherauk, 50, an acquaintance of Dowrey’s and fellow regular at the Fountainhead Pub, testified Wednesday that he too saw Woodward knock Dowrey down with a single punch. Wincherauk said he then followed the accused outside, confronted Woodward on Davie Street and asked him “why he did it.” “[Woodward] said, ‘He’s a faggot, he deserved it. The faggot touched me, I’m not a faggot,’” Wincherauk testified.

Scott Larin, head bartender at the Fountainhead pub, told the court he was with Wincherauk at the time of the confrontation. Larin gave similar testimony to Wincherauk’s, recounting that when Woodward was asked “why he did it,” he responded by saying “[Dowrey] deserved it.”

Larin told the court that the Fountainhead Pub is known as a neighbourhood joint where everyone’s welcome — “gay or straight.” The majority of its patrons on Fridays are members of the gay, lesbian and transgender community, he said. At the time, the assault infuriated Vancouver’s gay community, who viewed it as a hate crime. That designation has not been proven in court.

Lawton said a hate-crime designation is only considered at the time of sentencing — if there is a conviction.

If a case is considered a hate crime, the judge would take that as an aggravating factor in handing out the sentence.

Source: Lena Sin, The Province 22 July 2010

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A decision not to create a register of rugby players who have suffered head injuries could put them at risk this season, says a Northland father. New Zealand Rugby Union officials have considered setting up the register but have decided it is not a “workable option”.

It is nearly a year since Mike Sabin’s 19-year-old son, Darryl, sustained a life-threatening head injury playing in a match for Te Hapua last April 25, 2009. The teenager had previously sustained concussions playing for another club and Mr Sabin had even contemplated getting a High Court injunction to stop his son taking to the rugby pitch.

However, Daryl was tackled to the ground and eventually went into a coma and required emergency surgery. His father firmly believed a regional register back then could have prevented his son’s injury. Mr Sabin is worried players will be put at risk. He said the mandatory three-week stand-down may not be enough for some concussion injuries, and players should be required to get medical clearance before they were allowed to play again. “For some it might be enough, for others it’s like playing Russian roulette with five bullets.”

He said team sheets with players’ names were already being used and it would not be that difficult for match referees to note down any players who may have suffered a knock to the head, which then could be forwarded to the Northland Rugby Union.

The NZRU’s general manager of community and provincial amateur rugby Brent Anderson said the options presented by the Northland Rugby Union were considered in November. “The meeting consensus, given the amateur status of the game and the volunteer officials, was it wasn’t going to be workable in practice and we haven’t moved ahead with it.” He said the injuries would be monitored through the serious injury reporting system, and if any trends or issues came through the union would act.

Northland Rugby Union operations manager Greg Shipton said while there was no specific brain-injury register operating for the region, there was a serious injury register in place which would cover concussion. Mr Shipton said it was up to each team coach or game referee to make sure any incidents were reported.

Mr Shipton met with NZRU (New Zealand Rugby Union) officials last May to discuss possible rule changes which included recommendations on how repeated head injuries could be dealt with. However, he said the new rules had fallen into the “too hard basket” for the NZRU. “There’s room for this register but we can monitor it another way by serious injury reports,” Mr Shipton said. He acknowledged that under the system, some injuries would go unreported.

Source:  The Northern Advocate - March 22, 2010 

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Pearce’s tough fight, more notes

The snowboarding community and the sports world at large have rallied around Kevin Pearce, the 22-year-old Olympic hopeful from Norwich, Vt. who suffered a brain injury during a practice run on the halfpipe last week in Utah and remains in critical condition. As of Tuesday morning, more than 14,000 people signed on to the Facebook group Well Wishes to Our Friend Kevin Pearce. The site has received notes of support from fans and fellow snowboarders, but also from many survivors of traumatic brain injuries who have described the productive lives they now lead.

A recent posting from his brother, Adam, reads as follows: “Kev continues to maintain his condition with some positive signs. He is extremely determined and can definitely feel all of your love and support. Still can’t thank all of you enough.”

Pearce was practicing a Double Cork maneuver, two backflips with a twist, when his ski caught an edge and flipped him onto his forehead on Dec. 31, 2009 in a sport renowned for staunch independence and, often, irreverence, Pearce has been a sportsman. He had a halfpipe built for his personal use in Mammoth, Calif. and has invited many of his teammates — in effect his top challengers — to train with him. The group was tabbed The Frends, with a missing letter “i” to suggest, in effect, that there was no self-interest among the group.

He worked hard to overcome dyslexia and he often speaks of looking to inspiration from his brother David, who was born with Down’s Syndrome.

Though the hospital in Salt Lake City will not accept cards, gifts or packages, his family said he would welcome cards that are sent to:

Mosaic Sports Management c/o Kevin Pearce
829 Second St. (Suite B)
Encinitas, CA. 92024

Source: SI.com / Bria Cazeneuve