Tom Eagle leaned over his son's hospital bed, squeezing his hand, waiting for a response.

His son, Raymond Edward, has been at Stanton Memorial Hospital for the past year after he was found covered in blood with a head injury in front of the nearby ReddiMart. Raymond has been in a coma ever since, unable to tell the tale of what happened to him the night of Aug. 3, 2006.

Tom Eagle communicates with his son Raymond Eagle by asking him to squeeze his hand in response. Eagle is looking for answers to what happened to his son that has left him in a coma for the past year. Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

Raymond is getting better, blinking, and squeezing his father's hand to communicate.

But as his condition improves, Tom is waiting for progress on the police investigation to find out what happened to Raymond that night. Having not heard anything since December of last year, Tom said he's lost hope in the RCMP investigation and is now looking to the community to come forward with information.

"To tell you the truth, I've lost all my confidence in the RCMP," said Tom. "I'm asking the community in Yellowknife. Someone out there knows about Raymond's injury. I'm asking the people if they know to get in touch with me. It's not too late."

Tom's loss of faith in the RCMP does not only stem from the so far unsuccessful investigation.

From the moment his son was picked up, Tom said Raymond was treated as a drunk because of his history as a street person.

According to what Tom read in the ambulance report, Raymond was taken to the hospital with lacerations on his head and covered in blood.

He was kept for just 15 minutes before being thrown in the drunk tank for 10 hours. He was then taken back to the hospital and quickly flown to University Hospital in Edmonton.

It wasn't until the evening after he was found that Tom and his wife knew anything was wrong with their son. The call was one every parent fears the most.

"[The doctor] said that we better get here, that Raymond was not even a candidate for an operation and she doubts he'll even make it through the night," Tom recalled.

Although a year later, Raymond is still holding on. His movements are minimal and he remains in a clinical coma.

RCMP Const. Roxanne Dreilich said that the investigation into Raymond's case is still ongoing with the major crimes unit.

She said that interviews have been conducted as recently as a few weeks ago, and the unit is considering the case as a priority.

Tom, however, has little faith in the police. He said that the police treated his son as a "drunk Indian" upon his arrest and he doesn't expect much to come from their case.

"Raymond was being treated as a drunk, yet he had evidence -- he had a laceration on his head, he was bleeding."

Tom would not comment on whether he was planning to take legal action. He said he's worked the last year to look after his son's welfare. Now that his condition is improving, he'll move on to legal issues.

"I'm not looking for revenge, or anything like that. I just want to know what happened that night."