Edmonton teen seriously injured in alleged assault in Dominican Republic

An alleged attacker of an Edmonton teenager in the Dominican Republic is believed to be from the Maritimes.

An 18-year-old man from Edmonton is in a medically-induced coma following an alleged assault in the Dominican Republic earlier this month.

Cindy Rowan travelled to Punta Cana with her family for her son Chase’s 18th birthday on Jan. 9.

Her three sons were celebrating in the overnight hours on Jan. 14 when Rowan received a phone call from her eldest.

“He’s like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on with Chase,’” she said.

Rowan said her eldest son called again 15 minutes later and said an ambulance was on its way.

“There’s something seriously wrong with Chase,” she said. “He wont wake up.”

Rowan raced to be with her son, who she found surrounded by a group of people, one of whom was holding his head.

“My son is seizing and foam and blood coming out of his mouth, and I’m like, what in the heck happened?

When her son arrived at the hospital, Rowan says he had to wait to receive care.

“All they were worried about was insurance. They wouldn’t touch my son until my insurance went through, which took about 3.5 hours,” she said.

Rowan said Chase’s skull was cracked front to back, forcing his brain to shift. He came out of a coma two days after a surgery, but he’s now in a medically-induced coma.

“They have never seen an injury this extent that lived through his surgery, so it’s a miracle that he’s here,” she said.

Documents from the prosecutor’s office say Kyle Stephen Denny was arrested following the incident. Rowan says she met Denny earlier in the trip and learned he was from the Maritimes.