Victim of stabbing at The Forks had just moved to Winnipeg from Ukraine
A Ukrainian refugee living in Winnipeg for two weeks was the victim of a Canada Day stabbing at The Forks.
Julya Zan and Jorge Torres decided to go for a late-night drive to The Forks on July 1 when they saw cars swerving around a waving pedestrian.
"And when we saw, we were like hey, this guy is actually bleeding. So we pulled over. We ran over to him, and we saw he said he'd been stabbed in the neck and we said, ‘Sit down and lie down,’" said Torres.
Torres tried to comfort the man, who had a knife still in his neck, while Zan called 911.
Zan, who speaks Ukrainian, then stepped in to help translate. The couple learned the victim and his friend were recent immigrants fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"July 1 was their two weeks in Manitoba, and they said today we have just found the apartment, and we moved downtown, and this is our first night out, which is going for a walk to The Forks to celebrate Canada Day," recalled Zan.
Zan said the victims explained that they were crossing the street when they bumped into another group. They attempted to turn around and apologize, but had trouble doing so because they didn’t speak the language.
They then said they saw one of the men pull out bear spray, and were subsequently assaulted.
In a call with CTV News, the Winnipeg Police Service confirmed one man was stabbed and the other sprayed with bear mace. Officers said the investigation is ongoing.
On Sunday morning, Zan took the friend to see the other victim in hospital.
"They said that we can come to visit him after 9 a.m. in the morning, and we took the friend, picked him up from downtown, drove him to the emergency room at St. Boniface [Hospital]," said Zan.
According to Zan, the man that was stabbed is awake and undergoing treatment.
Zan said the Ukrainians are unsure where they will go or what they will do now, but feel it's unsafe here.
The couple is now calling on Winnipeggers to act more quickly to help others, and for something to be done about violent crime in the city.
"For me, the reason why I'm kind of upset is because it's just embarrassing to our city, you know, and the fact that it happened to these people," said Torres.
These assaults come after two violent incidents earlier in the week at The Forks.
Winnipeg police reported an attack in the parking lot on Monday night, resulting in the assault of a father and daughter.
A few days later, police said two men with stab wounds were found outside The Forks Market on Wednesday. A woman was also treated for minor injuries.
- With files from CTV's Kayla Rosen.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.