A Vancouver woman who was brutally assaulted in Mexico is back in British Columbia and has undergone surgery for her injuries.
Jamie Coutts was on vacation in Playa del Carmen earlier this month when she says she was assaulted outside a bar while trying to get a man to leave her friend alone.
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Peter Nowaczek, a professional boxer from Toronto, was charged this week with attempted murder, according to the Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office.
Coutts told Global News on Wednesday that he had surgery on Monday, was “fine” and was surviving on the help of “lots of pain relievers and ice.”
“They went in through my mouth and put metal plates there, and they went into two points on my cheek and they put metal plates to hold my bones together there, and then they went through my nose and they put a metal plate in my nose as well,” He said.
He said he will still need cosmetic surgery and dental work, and hopes to be scarred when all is said and done, a process that he hopes will take months.
Getting home from Mexico turned out to be a challenge in itself.
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Coutts received a “fit to fly” letter authorizing her to travel by plane, but said that once she boarded her flight, the airline became concerned that it might not be safe to carry and was about to fulfill her duty before takeoff.
“It worked, they kept me on the plane and did everything they could to get me home, and if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be home right now,” he said.
“The pilot and crew really struggled to keep me up, and they flew to a lower altitude just to get home safely.”
Peter Nowaczeck has been charged with attempted murder in the incident.
Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office
Coutts said she still doesn’t remember the actual assault that left her in need of surgery, but she does remember what happened before.
She and a group of friends had been to the Coyote Lounge Bar, where a man had approached his friend and was not taking no for an answer, she said.
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“We were nervous for him to find out where we were staying, so that’s when Genevieve and I stepped in and said, you know what? She said no, it’s time for you to go, and he didn’t like that answer,” He said. .
“In fact, I don’t remember being hit. My last memory is of him walking in the opposite direction. But I guess he had walked in the opposite direction to start running towards me.
“When I woke up, I just remember that I was covered in blood and holding my face and screaming in pain.”
Coutts’ friend also suffered a head injury that required stitches.
In addition to the long road to physical recovery, Coutts said he is also dealing with financial stress.
She has to pay medical bills in Mexico, as she did not have travel insurance, she will have to pay for cosmetic reconstructive surgery, and will have to pay for an attorney while she works on the legal aspects of her case.
She is currently unable to work either.
Friends have launched a GoFundMe campaign for her, which to date has raised more than $ 43,000.
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Reference-globalnews.ca