The victim of what RCMP allege was terrorism on a Surrey, B.C., bus on Saturday has returned home from hospital after his throat was slashed in an attack a family member says could have easily killed him.
Chris Jensen told The Canadian Press his partner’s brother suffered a knife wound stretching from the back of his neck to near his throat, just below the left side of his jaw.
He says the victim, whom he calls his brother-in-law, returned from hospital Tuesday to the home in Surrey, where he lives with Jensen and his partner.
Jensen says his brother-in-law described getting onto the bus and then turning to help a man he thought was falling before he saw the knife.
He struggled with the armed man and eventually succeeded in pushing the attacker off the bus after being wounded.
Abdul Aziz Kawam, who is due to reappear in Surrey provincial court on Wednesday, is charged with attempted murder, assault causing bodily harm, aggravated assault, and assault with a weapon, all in association with terrorist group the Islamic State, commonly known as ISIS.
Jensen says his brother-in-law suffered some vocal chord damage, but the knife did not strike any major tendons or arteries, and doctors are hopeful he can make a full recovery.
“We face the reality that it could have been worse. We know that recent stabbing victims have not been so lucky,” Jensen said.
“We know there is a lot of violence that pops [up] that randomly, and the best you can do is be vigilant.”
Jensen has set up a GoFundMe page for the victim, whom he says is Indigenous.
He says on the page that the victim is “one of the most unassuming, kind, shy, gentle, and caring people you could ever meet.”
While police had initially said the victim had life-threatening injuries, they later said that they were expected to make a full recovery.
Transit Police told CBC News that a nurse at the hospital told them the victim only survived because the knife used in the attack was dull.
