Last summer, a Waterloo Region family made the difficult decision to send their son to a specialized health care facility in London.
The son, 12, grew up with severe autism. His parents, who like their son cannot be identified by CTV, thought putting him through a two-month program at the Child and Parent Resource Institute might help boost his development.
Instead, four days before their son was due to come home, the parents received a shocking call – the boy was missing.
An hour later, the boy was found – but in a condition his parents could barely believe.
“His eyes were blackened and shut. He had blood various places, scrapes, his teeth were broken. He wasn’t moving. He was on a ventilator,” his father tells CTV.
“We cannot imagine how he survived.”
It took some time before the family was given details of exactly what happened that night.
Greg Simard, at the time a staff member at CPRI, was charged with attempted murder, forcible confinement and assaulting a police officer.
As for the boy, he spent more than six months in hospital before returning home.
He suffered severe brain damage, needs 24/7 assistance and can no longer walk, eat or use the bathroom without help.
“We need people to understand what the impact to our lives, our family’s lives and especially our son’s life has been,” says the father.
The case will next go before the courts Friday in London, when a judge will determine whether Simard can be held criminally responsible for his actions.
Simard’s lawyer suggests his client was suffering from mental illness at the time of the alleged attack.
“There’s no explanation as to why it could have taken place, which brought to mind the question of whether or not he was mentally ill at the time of the alleged events,” says Gord Cudmore.
The father says he will never forget those who found his son, nor the medical workers who helped get him home.
