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IQALUIT
When Iqaluit security guard Yohan Grandjambe, 23, steered his wheelchair to work June 6, he figured it would be just another night - but the night soon became a struggle for survival, pinned under his chair and bleeding from the head after an unseen attacker assaulted him from behind.

Grandjambe, who uses a wheelchair to provide mobility after muscular dystrophy affected his legs and shoulders, was pinned under his chair for eight hours. - Casey Lessard/NNSL photo

"It was just a normal night," he said, remembering the moments before the attack. A friend had come over to visit, and Grandjambe - who uses a wheelchair after muscular dystrophy diminished his mobility - saw him out to the parking lot of the green Inuksugait building.

"I walked him downstairs, he left, I waved him off, and did my checks. On the way back, I didn't hear nothing behind me and then I felt a punch to my head. I think it was maybe two more after that."

Instincts kicked in, and he chose flight over fight. He struggled to get into the building, away from his attacker, who it seems did not follow him inside.

"I got really dizzy," he recalled. "I remember looking forward and I think I might have went to the keypad. I had dropped my keys because I was in such a rush to get in. That's when everything got really blurry."

He blacked out and hit the ground, his clothing catching on the joystick to his motorized wheelchair.

"When I woke up, my arm was pinned under me with my wheelchair slightly on my leg, pinning my leg so I couldn't turn around," he said. "I realized my forehead was bleeding because I had a gash on it. I'm not sure if that's from falling or from being hit."

Despite his best efforts, with a 300-lb wheelchair on his leg, attempts to lift himself off his arm were futile. As the arm started to get numb, he lost all strength and decided his best move would be to hold his head so he didn't bleed out, and wait for help.

"I was stuck," he said. "I realized the time was passing by, so I gave up on my arm and moved to my head to keep from bleeding so much. There was quite a bit of blood in front of me."

The attack happened just after 11 p.m. He would not be found until the next morning.

It crossed his mind that he might die there, he said. "But I realized I can't die - I have a family to take care of, I have to work, I have so much ahead of me."

Co-workers from NCC Properties found him at 7 a.m. the next morning, after he suffered eight hours of agony. They rushed him to the hospital.

"I was in a lot of pain," he said. "I couldn't sleep. They had to make sure they were draining me (the toxins in his body) out, giving me lots of liquids, IVs, but that was also bad for my disease (muscular dystrophy) because too much water can hurt my heart and make it work harder. They were worried my kidneys and heart were failing."

He survived, but feels the lingering effects of the attack. He has severe nerve damage to his right arm, a big scar on his forehead, and injuries to his shoulders and left leg. He also suffered a concussion, black eye and fat lip. He had to fly to Ottawa to see a specialist to assess the nerve damage.

The doctor told him the road to recover will be a long one - it could take a few weeks to a few months for him to heal, and there's a chance mobility in his arm may not fully return.

Despite this prognosis, he does not appear bitter or afraid. This is not the first time someone has attacked him, although he hopes it is the last.

"I have no idea why someone would want to attack me. Maybe it's because of my job," he said, noting he worked security in Repulse Bay before starting this job in November 2010. "I've arrested people. I'm sure someone would want revenge. There are a few names that have crossed my mind, but I can't speculate who it was."

The police have put up posters at the Inuksugait buildings hoping someone will come forward with information about the attacker. Unless someone comes forward, there is no way to verify by whom, how or why he was attacked. The Inuksugait plaza has many cameras, but there is no footage of the crime.

"We're still trying to determine who the suspect would be in that case," RCMP Sgt. Kevin Lewis said.

For Grandjambe, he wants to get back to work, and hopes police find his attacker.

"I would definitely like to see who it was, who was the coward who would attack a guy in a wheelchair from behind and not stand up in front of him."

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