The granddaughter of 89 year old Bob Plumb, who was viciously attacked by a man wielding a machete in Courtenay last week, says he is in good spirits and is recovering.

Janelle Karatsikis says he was able to leave the hospital Tuesday. “He says ‘I feel on top of the world’. But, it comes and goes. He was in a lot of pain last night and he’s still got quite a bit of swelling in that hand. He doesn’t have vision in that eye yet. He’s supposed get his stitches out today, so we’ll just have to be really careful with that. But he’s in great spirits and he has been since the day of the attack.”

Karatsikis set up a Go-Fund-Me page which has so far raised more than $30,000 to help pay for medical expenses and other tools that Plumb may need to live at home. “We just want him to have a safe recovery. His car is obviously covered in blood and everything, so we’re going to need to fix that up for him. He needs some safety equipment at home.”

She says the incident has left everyone in her family and many in the community feeling anxious. “You think twice about people on the street. You’re watching every move that people are making. And just to think of the actual attack, to try and visualize it, it’s just horrific, it makes you sick to your stomach that, that could happen. So we’re just praying and and praying that his road to recovery stays positive.”

Plumb was in his car early last Wednesday morning helping deliver papers when a man asked him for a cigarette. When he refused the man attacked him. According to Karatsikis, the attack lasted several minutes and thankfully Plumb was in his car, which gave him some protection. When the man ran away, Plumb drove himself to the RCMP detachment and was able to receive help. She says her grandpa received about 130 stitches, he has yet to get vision back in his one eye and his hand, which he grabbed the machete with at some point during the attack, remains in rough shape.

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