Mike on Crime

By Chinta Puxley, THE CANADIAN PRESS

WINNIPEG – There was no lasting help for a man who twice risked his life last year to save drowning people, his stepdaughter said after a vicious weekend attack left the “Homeless Hero” unrecognizable in hospital.

Kristy Assin said Faron Hall, 45, was beaten repeatedly with a table leg after he’d been drinking for two days with buddies. Hall had been in a 58-day treatment program and was trying to turn his life around, she said.

But the support just wasn’t there.

“There was no followup,” said Assin, 27. “The system did fail him. It didn’t just fail him, but the system and the government failed everybody who has alcohol in their lives.”

Police say three people were “socializing” at a downtown Winnipeg apartment Saturday afternoon when a fight broke out. Hall was beaten, allegedly with a piece of furniture, and left with severe injuries. He was found by apartment security staff, who then contacted the police.

Geraldine Ruth Colomb, 31, was arrested shortly afterward and charged with aggravated assault.

Police arrested Darrell Walter Longclaws, 31, on Sunday and charged him with aggravated assault and breach of probation.

Investigators still haven’t been able to interview Hall because he hasn’t been well enough. He doesn’t have permanent brain damage, but Assin said Monday that he doesn’t remember a lot.

“He was an easy target. He’s unrecognizable. He’s been beaten that bad … His face, his head has most of the injuries. He’s got nothing but stitches.”

Just as Hall’s heroic actions captured national attention and shone a light on Winnipeg’s homeless, Assin said she hopes this attack will be a wake-up call to improve support given to alcoholics.

“He wants the help. He wants to stop,” she said. “He said, ‘I gotta stop tempting fate.’ He realized he relapsed but we can’t be mad at him for that.”

Hall, an admitted alcoholic, rose to prominence after saving two people from drowning on separate occasions. He was living on the banks of the Red River last May when he saw a teenage boy fall from a nearby bridge. Hall jumped into the cold water to save the teen who was crying for help.

“I just threw off my backpack and ran down and dived in,” said Hall at the time. “He was fighting me and I told him, ‘Don’t fight me! I’m trying to save you. Otherwise we’re both going to drown.”’

Hall came to the rescue again in the fall when he saved a woman after she and a man fell in the river, although Hall wasn’t able to pull the man to shore.

Hall is originally from the Dakota Tipi First Nation, but grew up mostly in foster care in Winnipeg.

His sister Kristi Hall, 36, was stabbed to death in a random attack in July 2007.

He had been homeless for seven years, sleeping year-round along the river bank, before he was hailed as a hero. He was showered with gifts that included season tickets to Winnipeg’s minor-league baseball team and bus fare to see his father on a reserve west of the city. He was also set up with housing and entered a rehabilitation program.

He donated $1,000 to the Main Street Project, a Winnipeg homeless shelter.

It’s not the first time Hall has been assaulted. He has said he was attacked on Christmas Eve, beaten by people he said recognized him from news stories.

Those who have worked with Hall say it’s not easy to trade a life on the streets for a clean, sober one.

Brian Bechtel, executive director of the Main Street Project, said people are often pulled back into their old lifestyle because they find it difficult to cut all ties with the street. They miss their friends and don’t have a support base that doesn’t involve their addiction.

“The people who have moved out on their own are articulating to us that they feel lonely,” Bechtel said. “It may sound like it’s a fantastic relief, and on many levels it is. But on the other hand, it’s lonely. You feel isolated and alone….

“Getting people sober, we have a lot of success at that. It’s a matter of making it stick.”

Const. Jacqueline Chaput said investigators still don’t know what prompted the attack. Hall knew his alleged attackers and investigators are hoping to speak to him eventually, she said.

“When he’s going to be well enough to speak to investigators, we don’t know yet.”

Hospital officials said Hall has declined interviews about the attack and has asked that no more information be released about his condition.