Campbell River father recovering from stab wounds after what family says was a random attack

Colin Dube-Wheat is recovering from a terrifying ordeal. The 21-year-old Campbell River father was stabbed in the heart and lung.

The attack happened in the early hours of July 14 in downtown Campbell River.

His cousin, Jen Fyfe, says Dube-Wheat was walking home from a party. He heard cries for help, saw someone seemingly overdosing, and went to help -- and that’s when he was viciously stabbed by a stranger.

“My family was just stabbed going to help somebody, so it is a lot to process,” said Fyfe Monday.

The Good Samaritan was airlifted to Victoria General Hospital – where he had life-saving open-heart surgery. This weekend he returned home to begin what’s expected to be a slow recovery.

“We’re really grateful for the interventions that everybody did to save his life because it could have gone a lot worse,” said Fyfe.

It’s been a year full of tragedy for Dube-Wheat. His younger brother died, and his family's dog was killed in a house fire.

“It’s been really hard,” Fyfe told CTV News Monday. “You know, you don’t want to see young people struggle.”

Dube-Wheat is engaged. He and his fiancé have a two-year-old daughter. Fyfe has set up a GoFundMe page to support the young family -- because her cousin won’t be able to work for several months and his fiancé will have to take time off work to care for their child.

No arrests have been made in the case. Campbell River RCMP say its major crimes unit is investigating the attack. It says the public isn’t in danger. That’s not a perspective shared, however, by Fyfe, who says the stabbing represents a bigger problem -- escalating violent crime.

“Like that person's out there and they randomly stabbed somebody -- like we gotta talk about this,” said Fyfe. “I am totally alarmed -- I don’t feel like downtown Campbell River is a safe place to be.”

Anyone with information about the crime is urged to contact the police.