Vancouver resident Katie Lewis was assaulted in 2020 by an unknown man near her home in the Strathcona neighbourhood.
While she lives with the trauma from the violence, she says in the aftermath she has also faced an onslaught of vitriol from people on social media.
"It drastically affected my life."
As vice-president of the Strathcona Residents' Association, Lewis says she was a target for the assault and for brutal bullying on Twitter immediately following the incident. Many comments stemmed from people upset anyone was speaking about the encampment of unhoused people that had set up in Strathcona Park.
Following months of relentless "trolling," Lewis left the social media platform for about six months. She spoke out again on the two-year anniversary of her assault on Monday (Oct. 17).
Lewis says she shared her story despite knowing she will "get hate" for it, she tells Vancouver Is Awesome. "I think people have a right, to be honest about what has happened to them and what victims have gone through.
"I disagree with people trying to tell me what I am allowed to talk about and what I'm not allowed to talk about."
Almost one week after hundreds of people experiencing homelessness were cleared from Oppenheimer Park in the DTES in mid-May of 2020, a new tent city continued to expand in the parking lot near Crab Park. In June 2020, the B.C. Supreme Court granted an injunction requiring the new encampment residents to relocate. After they did, however, the tent city emerged in Strathcona park; it took roughly 18 months to clear.
Lewis had gone out to take soup to two neighbours in different parts of the area, one of whom was sick and the other was recovering from dental surgery. After she walked home around the perimeter of the park, a man attacked her from behind at her doorstep and struck her repeatedly with a metal pipe, knocking her unconscious.
She suffered a concussion from the assault and says the symptoms persisted for about a year.
"My biggest problem was vertigo, vomiting, nausea...so I eventually went on drugs they give cancer patients going through chemo to help with the nausea," she explains.
Vancouver woman shares recovery story following stranger attack
In addition to the physical repercussions of the assault, Lewis was deeply traumatized and sought assistance from B.C.'s Crime Victim Assistance Program. However, she says the program re-traumatized her, as she had to repeat her story to several caseworkers and didn't get approved for counselling for over a year. As a result, she gave up waiting for assistance and sought therapy on her own.
"I find that really troubling because when people have been assaulted and they are the victim of a crime they need help immediately. They don't need help a year later — it's too late."
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) has been a particularly effective treatment for her trauma, as well as the comfort of a beagle named Honey that she adopted shortly after the assault.
"I feel [like I'm] in a really good place now. I still am nervous walking around at night especially, but I'm not living with that really intense fear that I was living with immediately post my attack," she says. "[Honey] completely changed my life, to be honest...even when I was so slow and I could barely walk around the block...she was still there and glued to my side.
"She's just been the light of my life."
Vancouver has seen a concerning number of stranger attacks over the past couple of years, with recent data showing an average of four assaults daily. A memo from the VPD to city council identified random stranger attacks as a "crime trend" and “issue of note” for politicians to consider. Many have involved weapons, including machetes and knives.
But Lewis says the data doesn't tell the full story of the impact of the attacks on individuals.
"We very rarely hear about the victims of these stranger assaults and what they go through afterwards," she explains.
"These experiences can shift people's lives."
With files from Mike Howell
