Saskatoon woman randomly stabbed in torso while shopping downtown
The victim of a random stabbing in downtown Saskatoon last Thursday is sharing her story about the terrifying attack in broad daylight.
She is one of two women who were stabbed by a random attacker in two separate areas of the downtown core around 5:00 p.m. in the afternoon May 25.
The first incident happened on the sidewalk on 20th street at the southside of Midtown Plaza, where she was going shopping.
That’s where the first victim, Sumika Zaidi, says she remembers someone running from across 20th Street and behind her. She then felt a sharp pain.
“The shock is disturbing my life,” Zaidi told CTV News.
Zaidi is a 25-year-old newlywed who came to Saskatoon from Pakistan. She says she is afraid now and didn’t want her face shown.
“I can’t take this situation out of my mind. It happened so rapidly that I can’t understand what just happened to me in 20 to 25 seconds, it was so quick,” she says.
She realized she had been stabbed and the woman kept running down 20th Street eastward. She recalls the attacker had a smaller knife in her left hand and a larger knife on her also and was very deliberate, not appearing high or intoxicated from what she could tell.
“She was running. I just saw her. I know she was in her senses,” she says.
Zaidi is now recovering from a stab wound just above her hip which required twelve stitches.
She can’t walk much yet and was told by doctors that it will take about two months to recover. But she says it’s the emotional toll that will take the longest to heal.
Being from Pakistan’s largest city of Karachi, it baffles her that this attack happened in Saskatoon.
“We think about foreign countries, and we think that we are safe clean and I just cam here and I come here and get stabbed, it’s so terrifying,” she says.
Police confirmed in a news release that this wasn’t the only attack reported and that another woman, a 35-year-old, was also stabbed a few blocks away near 2nd Avenue on 20th street a short time later.
A 28-year-old woman was located by police in a building at 300 2nd Avenue which is the address of the Lighthouse Assisted Living.
The woman charged in both attacks is facing two counts of assault causing bodily harm, possession of a weapon for the purpose of committing an offence and carrying a concealed weapon as well as breach of probation.
Zaidi has no plans to move back home and realizes this was very random.
“Three and a half months goes smoothly, and I enjoyed the city, but what happened last Thursday is so terrifying for me. I can’t’ go outside without someone,” she says.
Her family calls her every day to check in as they are shocked and devastated by what happened. Her parents are planning to come visit in July.
She wanted to get her story out so that others can be more aware of their surroundings and not have to go through what she did.
She does admit though, that she couldn’t have done anything differently to prevent the senseless random attack.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.