Sword attack victim at Brandon high school back home recovering

The teenage victim of a sword attack in a Manitoba high school is speaking out. Danton Unger has his story.

The victim of a sword attack at a Brandon high school said the incident didn’t feel real.

Chinonso Onuke, a Grade 10 student at Neelin High School, is at home recovering a week after being stabbed multiple times by a fellow student at the school.

“In the moment, I was not thinking at all,” Chinonso told CTV News Tuesday.

He remembers the lunch break was just about to end and he was doing one more lap in the hallways when he saw someone dressed in all black, including wearing a “witch doctor mask.”

He said he thought it was a weird attire to wear at school and then asked the person’s name before turning around and walking away.

“I’m walking away, I turn back. Something makes me turn back…and he’s pulling out a sword,” he said. “Before I can even think, he lunges at me, gets the first one in my abdomen.”

Chinonso remembers falling to the floor and being slashed again in the leg, then stabbed in the shoulder and chest.

“He was about to go for my core, like my heart, stomach area. So I just end up grabbing the blade with my hands, then he tries to pull it, I don’t let go. I pushed it away and I just booked it to the office.”

Brandon police said last week that students alerted the school’s resource officer and police arrived a short time later.

A 16-year-old student was found with a sword. He was Tasered by police and arrested.

The incident caused the school to be locked down.

The suspect has been charged with attempted murder, uttering threats, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and disguise with intent.

The charges haven’t been tested in court.

Chinonso has wounds on his shoulder, chest, abdomen, upper thigh, and forearm and seven of his fingers were deeply cut.

He was rushed to hospital.

“The whole thing happened so fast, you would think it’s a dream. You wouldn’t think it’s real. So I was just there, kind of wondering, ‘Yo, did this actually happen, or am I just dreaming?’”

Chinonso’s mom, Helen Onuke, remembers getting a call and being told there was an accident.

She got to the hospital and was told her son was in trauma.

“I said to myself, ‘Helen, breathe. Breathe and brace yourself.’ Then I got in there and there was like 20 nurses and doctors and he’s like, just all blood,” Helen said.

Chinonso was taken to Winnipeg the next day for an emergency surgery to try and repair all the tendon and nerve damage.

Helen said she was scared to hear what had happened and has to try to prevent herself from thinking about what else could have happened.

“Because, you’re thinking, ‘What if he did not turn around?’ With such a sword, he could have just cut his head off. Can you imagine going to school and that happens? No. You send your kids to school and you’re thinking they are safe. It’s supposed to be the safest place.”

She said she wants officials with the school and provincial government to come together and work on a plan to ensure the school will be safe for all students moving forward.

Chinonso went back to the school three days after the attack to visit. He said he was a little in shock at first, but that quickly disappeared as he realized the school isn’t a bad place, rather, something bad happened there.

“You just got to understand to separate the action of what happened from the area.”

- With files from CTV’s Alex Karpa and Katherine Dow