Woman with skull fracture suffered in Edmonton attack awaits surgery in hospital
One of four pedestrians struck by a rental truck in a weekend attack in Edmonton remains in intensive care in hospital awaiting surgery.
Hayley Bradford says her friend Kim O’Hara is in stable condition, but has a fractured skull and swollen brain.
She says doctors are waiting for the 30-year-old to improve before they can operate on her broken leg.
O’Hara was out with friends Saturday night when a speeding U-Haul truck struck her and three others on Jasper Avenue.
Police say earlier in the night, the driver ran down and stabbed a city police officer on traffic duty outside an Edmonton Eskimos football game.
The officer survived and Bradford says all the injured pedestrians except for O’Hara have been released from hospital.
“She’s got a long road of rehab ahead of her,” says Bradford, who has also started a GoFundMe page for O’Hara.
As of Thursday afternoon, the site had raised $16,000.
O’Hara, a recruitment worker at Mammoet Canada, has a nineyear-old son. Bradford says the boy has been told what happened to his mother.
“He feels sad for her but says the hospital is taking care of her and she’ll get better.”
A co-worker of O’Hara’s, Jordan Stewardson, was among the injured but is home recovering in Fort McMurray, says Bradford.
Court documents list Jack Zubick and Paul Biegel as the other wounded pedestrians. Police say Const. Mike Chernyk was stabbed in the face and head but is expected to make a full recovery.
Abdulahi Hasan Sharif, a Somali refugee, is facing 11 charges, including attempted murder, dangerous driving, criminal flight causing bodily harm and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.
Police said an ISIL flag was found in Sharif’s vehicle.