Beloved security guard attacked in Vancouver’s Chinatown returns to work, but not for long – BC | 24CA News
A beloved, longtime safety guard is again on patrol in Vancouver’s Chinatown the place he was attacked on the job this previous summer season.
But Harold Johnson’s valiant return to the streets can also be bittersweet.
After three months nursing his accidents at house, Johnson went again to work final month and has since given his employer discover he will probably be leaving in mid-December.
“After all that he’s put up with since Aug. 12, I think it is time to get out of Chinatown,” Harold’s spouse, Brandy LaRocque Johnson, instructed Global News in an interview.
The Johnsons’ sense of safety was shaken when Harold was assaulted by a stranger as he made his common morning rounds on the Chinese Cultural Centre close to East Pender and Columbia Streets.
“He could’ve died,” recalled Brandy, a neighborhood shopkeeper who rushed to be with him after the incident.
“(If) that guy kicked him one more time — that would have been it.”
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Harold, 64, continues to be reliving the trauma related to the assault, which left him with a concussion and a damaged nostril and cheekbone.
“I’m still having the nightmares and headaches,” Harold mentioned. “When I get a headache, it’s nasty.”
Brandy mentioned she’s frightened for her husband when he’s patrolling Chinatown alone, and so Harold determined to place his well being and security first and give up months forward of his deliberate retirement subsequent 12 months.
“He wanted very much to fulfil one more year and he can’t do that now, it’s too dangerous,” Brandy mentioned.
Harold has bonded and constructed a rapport with business house owners throughout his 20 years because the “eyes” of Chinatown, and retailers say he will probably be sorely missed.
“Harold’s been around forever. He knows everyone around here and everyone knows him,” pharmacist and Corning Drugs Chinatown proprietor David Wong instructed Global News.
“He’s always there for us, backing us up.”
“He comes in and makes me smile every day,” added Tracy To with Forum Home Appliances.
“Everybody in Chinatown’s family, we all work together,” Harold instructed Global News.
“He’s put a lot a lot a lot of heart in it,” added Brandy.
Harold mentioned he desires to proceed working and plans to discover a much less dangerous job to maintain him busy till retirement.
“I got to look at the bright side of this, it’s a wake-up call.”
Meantime, Brandy desires to thank the three individuals she mentioned helped save her husband’s life on Aug. 12, and the Chinatown retailers who raised nearly $30,000 in two separate fundraisers to assist him get better.
“I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart, the deepest part of my heart.”
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
