‘I love this country’: Ukrainian man who was randomly stabbed 2 weeks after immigrating stays positive

CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson talks to a Ukrainian immigrant who still has a positive outlook on life a year after he was stabbed.

A Ukrainian immigrant who was randomly stabbed nearly two years ago in Edmonton has kept a positive outlook on life even after a year in rehabilitation.

On April 13, 2023, Ivan Pylypchuk, who fled to Canada two weeks prior, was attacked while waiting for the bus near 38 Avenue and Millbourne Road on his way to his new job that he began nearly a week earlier. .

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“I take the bus from the hotel … I changed bus to another, and I was stabbed at this bus stop,” Pylypchuk told CTV News Edmonton on Friday.

“He stabbed me from behind. When I turned around, I broke his knife and (it) was in me … I turned around and thought ‘Why, what’s happened?’ … I feel that I was (beginning) to lose my blood. I sat down and I called 9-1-1,” he said.

The knife attack resulted in doctors removing part of Pylypchuk’s lung.

“The knife damaged my lung, my heart and my nerve on my back, so I can’t properly use my right side … sometimes, it’s very painful,” he said.

Pylypchuk said he spent nearly four months in ICU and needed to visit the hospital regularly eight months after his stay in intensive care.

Even after the attack and after losing a year of his normal life, he hasn’t changed his perspective on Canada.

“I love this country. I’m proud to be here,” he said. “My daughter … she was born in Sweden, she lived in Ukraine. After that, now she (lives) here.”

“(I) even asked her. She said, ‘No, I don’t want any other countries. This is my love.‘”

Shortly after the attack, a GoFundMe page was set up by his childhood friend to support the Pylypchuk family. It raised more than $127,000.

“These donations, they helped us so much. We live more than one year on this donation,” he said. “Thank you to all Canadian people who’ve helped us, who gave us great support.”

As for the person who attacked Pylypchuk, Edmonton Police Service said there was a person of interest at one point, but no official suspects right now.

Pylypchuk said, even though he had to change professions after the incident, he doesn’t see a reason to complain knowing he can still focus on his family’s new Canadian life.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson