Alberta boy endures surgery wait after alleged knockout game attack
EDMONTON - A Grande Prairie grandmother says she is outraged that her 12-year-old grandson has been victimized twice in the past week, first by a group of boys who allegedly attacked him as part of violent new game, and then by a health system that left him waiting in pain for surgery.
Cathy Rode said her Grade 6 grandson, Thomas Steidel, was assaulted Saturday in a schoolyard as part of a recent craze among teenagers known as the knock-down or knockout game.
The game, which has received considerable attention in the United States in recent years, typically involves a group of assailants punching unsuspecting strangers in the head. The goal is to knock them to the ground or render them unconscious. Sometimes the attacks are filmed, with the video shared among friends or posted online.
Its going around the schools here like crazy, Rode said. Its even affecting the girls. Its essentially for bragging rights.
In Thomass case, Rode said he was playing with a friend in the park attached to Hillside Elementary School when they were approached by a group of five boys aged 13 to 16.
She said the two victims tried to run away but Thomass friend was tracked down by the other boys and beaten. When Thomas went back to help, he was attacked as well. One of the attackers filmed the incident, though the video hasnt yet been located online, Rode said.
He got about 10 blows to the face, and at least a couple were in the same spot on his jaw and so his jaw is fractured, she said. The whole shape of his face has changed, because it was dislodged. Its disgusting.
Thomas was taken to hospital, where doctors told his family that the boys injuries were severe enough that surgery would be required to attach two titanium plates to his jaw. The surgeon indicated the procedure had to be done quickly, before the displaced bones began knitting back together, Rode said.
She said Thomas was immediately placed on an urgent surgery list, yet waited at the hospital all day Monday and Tuesday without getting into an operating room. Hospital staff also expressed doubt the surgery would happen Wednesday, which was when Rode decided to contact the media.
She said the publicity seemed to get things moving, as Thomas received his operation late Wednesday afternoon while his mother received an apology from the zone medical director.
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Alberta boy endures surgery wait after alleged knockout game attack