Steve Fonyo says he's facing homelessness after brutal attack

Former marathon runner Steve Fonyo talks about his recovery following a frightening attack that left him in a coma for a month. Fonyo spoke with CTV News, Sunday, May 17, 2015.

Steve Fonyo, who gained fame for running across Canada on one leg, and then gained infamy for criminal convictions, says he is facing homelessness after a vicious attack in February.

The 49-year-old was brutally attacked in his home in Surrey, B.C. last February. At the time, police said they believed three assailants ambushed the former Canadian hero, stabbing and beating him in a targeted attack.

"They left me for dead," Fonyo told CTV Vancouver on Sunday.

Fonyo, a bone-cancer survivor, rose to prominence in the 1980s when he completed a Terry-Fox inspired run across Canada to fundraise for cancer research. His accomplishments were later overshadowed, however, when he was convicted of several criminal charges, including fraud, theft, and assault with a weapon.

No arrests have yet been made in the case, and now, after three months of recovery, Fonyo is ready is ready to leave the rehabilitation centre where he’s been living since the attack. But he says he has nowhere to go.

Returning to his Surrey home after the traumatic attack is not an option, he told CTV Vancouver -- especially while his attackers remain free.

"I feel better, physically, health-wise, but I’m really upset," he said Sunday. "I wouldn’t spend the night there, no way."

Doctors placed Fonyo in a medically induced coma for a month after the attack. Once the coma was lifted, doctors said the former runner had suffered brain damage from a head injury, causing him to slur his speech.

Even if Fonyo was ready to go back, he said he faces eviction from the residence.

Out of options, he has turned to victim’s services for help finding a place.

In the meantime, he’s still waiting for police to find the people behind the attack that left him mentally and physically scarred, and with nowhere to call home. "They took my life away from me," he said.

Fonyo said he thinks he knows one of the people responsible, but he has no idea what their motive was.

"I never hurt anybody ever in my life," he said. "I almost died. I came this close to dying, for nothing."

With files from CTV Vancouver and The Canadian Press