Newspaper carrier, 89, might lose sight in left eye after fighting off attacker
After an attacker slashed his face several times with a machete, 89-year-old Times Colonist carrier Bob Plumb grabbed the blade with his hand to defend himself.
“He started slashing me with a machete at my head and he kept slashing at me probably seven or eight times,” Plumb told CHEK News at Comox Valley Hospital on Thursday.
Plumb said he grabbed the blade with his right hand and squeezed it with all his might. “I cut my hand pretty bad, but I hung on tight and I wouldn’t let him swing it anymore.”
The attacker eventually pulled the machete free and fled on a bicycle.
With blood dripping down his face and his left eye swollen shut, Plumb drove himself to the RCMP detachment about two kilometres away to get help.
Plumb was in downtown Courtenay early Wednesday delivering the Times Colonist when a person approached him, asking if he had a cigarette.
Plumb told him he did not. As Plumb started to get into his car, the person attacked him.
He suffered several severe cuts to his face and his right hand, and his left eye was badly injured. He has been told that he might never see out of that eye again.
A GoFundMe page, “Bobs Recovery,” has been set up to help him with expenses. “It’s absolutely unreal that a human being could do this to another,” says a commentary on the page. “Any money raised will help him in his medical recovery, both physically and mentally.”
The page said Plumb is in good spirits and emotional about all the support he has received.
At the hospital, he has been surrounded by family and friends. “There’s no words,” said his step-granddaughter Janelle Karatsikis. “It just makes you sick to your stomach to think another human being could do that to somebody.”
Raymond Corbett said in a Facebook post that his heart is breaking for the man he calls “Grampa Bob,” who is the closest thing he has to a grandfather.
“He was with my grandmother for the last 15 years of her life,” Corbett said.
His grandmother and Plumb had delivered newspapers for some time, he said.
Comox Valley RCMP Const. Monika Terragni said comments on social media show the community is rallying in support of Plumb, she said. “But also it’s kind of lit a fire to find out who did this.”
Terragni said the description of the suspect is limited due to the nature of the assault. “Our poor victim didn’t really have a chance to see him.”
Police are urging people to check surveillance video. One person has already come forward with footage from a cycling-helmet-mounted camera, Terragni said.
Video from even a few hours before or a few hours after the attack would be appreciated, she said.
“All it’s going to take is one little tip or one suspicious person.”
Terragni cautioned those with information about the incident not to post it online, however. “Direct those tips to us, because if they’re on Facebook we may miss them.”
Call Comox Valley RCMP at 250-338-1321 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or go to comoxvalleycrimestoppers.bc.ca.