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You won’t take my husband: wife Fundraising plan to take injured NV man to UK parents never consulted his wife Jeremy Shepherd jshepherd@nsnews.com
A recent fundraising drive to bring injured North Vancouver man Chris Thomas back to England could uproot or possibly even sever his family, according to Chris’s wife, Christina. Thomas sustained brain injuries as the result of an incident outside the Rusty Gull pub in 2011. The 42-year-old former stone mason was punched by a man in a Santa Claus costume just before midnight on Dec. 16. Thomas was released from hospital after a cursory examination, only to be readmitted when a friend observed him acting strangely. Either the punch or the fall caused bleeding inside his skull and swelling on the brain. Thomas later suffered from meningitis, a stroke and seizures, ultimately spending two months on a ventilator in an intensive care unit, according to Christina. Recently, Thomas has been able to eat food and speak. His comprehension is also improving, according to Christina. “He’s recovering but it’s going to be a long process,” she said. Thomas is currently in a wheelchair in the neurology unit at Lions Gate Hospital, according to Christina. The couple has been together nearly 20 years, according to Christina, including the last seven years in North Vancouver. While Thomas has not lived in England in two decades, his parents want to take care of him at home, according to Christina. “There’s this tug of war between his family here and his family there,” she explained. Charlie Cooper, a childhood friend of Thomas, recently spearheaded a fundraising drive to bring him back to Halewood, a suburb of Liverpool, through the website Bring See Wife page 5
Judge hands Abbotsford man 5 years for home invasion
Jane Seyd jseyd@nsnews.com
AN Abbotsford home invader who forced his way into a West Vancouver home, tied up the occupant with zap straps and threatened him with what looked like a handgun has been sent to jail for five years by a North Vancouver judge. Judge Joanne Challenger handed the sentence to Richard Wayne Heino — also known as Richard Wenlock — 24, on Thursday, after Heino pleaded guilty to robbery and use of an imitation gun to commit a crime. The frightening — and apparently random — home invasion happened on the afternoon of Oct. 28, 2012, when Heino and an accomplice rang the doorbell of a home on Haywood Avenue. A young man who lived there in the basement suite of his parents’ house came outside to find Heino and a second man handing out real estate pamphlets. But the resident became suspicious when he saw the second man attempting to conceal zap See Victim page 5
NEWS photo Paul McGrath
CHRIS Thomas gets a visit from his children Chloe and Michael and his wife Christina in Lions Gate Hospital Thursday evening.
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