The trauma of being a victim of violent crime is something which attaches itself to people and rarely lets go, as one Barrie resident grapples with the effects of being attacked in a public place last year.
David Mac Donald, along with his dog, were both stabbed at Meridian Place last August, and opened up about his struggles with mental health following his ordeal.
Mac Donald and his German shepherd, Gibson, were stabbed by an unknown man during a scuffle in Barrie’s downtown on the night of Aug. 6.
In an interview at the time, Mac Donald said he told a man at Meridian Place to stop kicking the chairs around, from a short distance away from them, across the square.
A few words were exchanged and the assailant began walking toward him.
“If you come up to me, I’m going to hit you,” Mac Donald warned the man.
A scuffle ensued and both he and his dog were stabbed by the man, who fled. He has never been caught by police.
Over six months later, Mac Donald is still dealing with the stress of the incident.
“I don’t like to think of myself as a victim, but it affects me daily,” he said on Saturday. “It’s always in the back of my mind. My life has not been the same at all since that happened.”
Whenever he leaves his house, he says he is always on the defensive, always on edge and hyper-aware of his surroundings.
Mac Donald used to live not far from where the attack occurred, but moved away from that part of the city due to not feeling safe.
“Everything has changed,” he added. “My job is different, my house is different now - everything is different because of that."
Mac Donald said shortly after the attack that he was a “pretty confident person.”
“I’ve never really shied away from confrontation before. I don't go picking fights and I’ve been in many fights in my life, but I’ve never had to fight for my life. That was scary,” he said last August.
Mac Donald also wondered at the time about others who could have been in his situation instead: “I can kind of handle it, but what about everybody else?”
That has clearly not been the case since then, according to Mac Donald.
“There’s been times where I thought I could speak out against things - and I haven’t. I didn’t think that would change,” he said Saturday.
Mac Donald said he is less likely to speak up now against people causing trouble in similar situations, which he feels is unfortunate.
“I always said I would do the same thing, but apparently I won’t,” he lamented.
And there are the physical reminders of the attack which never lets him forget that day.
“I still feel it,” Mac Donald said. “I literally still feel the wound. When I move a certain way, I feel it. It will always be there.”
His beloved dog and companion, Gibson, has fared much better after the stabbing.
“He bounced back so good,” Mac Donald said. “He’s such a good boy. He still loves everybody and is happy-go-lucky, and I’m so glad. He’s been my support animal his whole life.”
His worry over Gibson being wounded also adds to the trauma and still haunts him.
“I can still hear my dog’s yelp in the back of my mind. That messes me up good," Mac Donald said, as his voice breaks with emotion.
“It's hard for me to talk about.”
He claims he has tried to find help as a victim of crime, but has come up empty-handed up to this point.
Mac Donald said his life has changed 100 per cent, but for the suspect, nothing has happened. "That’s the biggest piss-off for me,” he added.
In an effort to find some kind of closure, he still shares the security camera photos released by police of the suspect on social media from time-to-time with the hope someone recognizes him, and police making an arrest.
