Prominence proving costly to Hall: friend

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This article was published 07/02/2010 (5393 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The public has failed Faron Hall to the point where it has almost cost him his life, according to a close friend.

Marion Willis, who visited Hall in the hospital on Sunday, says the violent beating Hall suffered Saturday afternoon has left the local hero’s face a mangled mess.

"He has been beaten beyond recognition," said Willis, who said she is now Hall’s spokeswoman. "Had they not pointed me to the end of the trauma unit and told me that was him, I wouldn’t have know it was Faron."

Hall was rushed to Health Sciences Centre Saturday afternoon in unstable condition with numerous injuries to his upper body. Hospital officials said Hall is in stable condition but remains in a critical care unit at HSC.

Police say Hall, who became known as the "homeless hero" after rescuing a teen who fell into the Red River last summer, and then a woman who fell into the same river last fall, was socializing with another man and woman at an apartment in the 100 block of Marion Street around 3:25 p.m.

At some point, the trio became involved in a verbal dispute and the two allegedly assaulted Hall and fled the apartment. Hall was found by apartment security.

Contrary to earlier reports, Hall was not stabbed in the attack.

Geraldine Ruth Colomb, 31, faces a charge of aggravated assault. She is detained at the Winnipeg Remand Centre. The investigation is continuing and a further arrest is pending, police said.

The beating was the latest chapter in Hall’s struggle with his alcohol addiction. Willis said the public has to stop treating Hall as the "homeless hero" and needs to start considering what the moniker has done to Hall’s life as he struggles to exist with celebrity.

She feels all the attention Hall has received, from the medals of bravery to public appearances, has made him a marked man.

"All we’ve done is enable him," she said. "We haven’t helped him. His place has become a haven for others who have income assistance but not housing. So that’s created all kinds of challenges for Faron.

"It almost cost him his life."

Following the death of Chris Harper, who drowned in the Red River last September despite a valiant rescue attempt from Hall, the 45-year-old was admitted in the Pritchard House Treatment Program, an in-patient care facility for aboriginals with addiction issues. Willis said Hall was in such rough shape following Harper’s death the program allowed him to do consecutive treatments in the facility. Typically, patients remain in Pritchard House for 29 days.

Willis felt the Pritchard House experience was positive for Hall. She said officials in the program saw the impact he had on the other patients and elevated his status to a patient-mentor role.

Leaving the facility is where the problems arose, according to Willis.

"Fifty-eight days in Pritchard and still, not one person from any social organization has shown any interest at all in developing an after-care program," she said. "The last week he was in treatment he would come to my home and he would talk to me about how terrified he was about leaving the centre.

"He knew the doors would close behind him and he would go back to the same circumstances that created all these challenges to begin with."

Saturday wasn’t the first time Hall was involved in an assault. He was also attacked on Christmas Eve, beaten by people he said had recognized him from the media stories.

Given his condition, Willis figures Hall will be in the hospital for a couple of weeks. To make matters worse, she said, Hall is also facing eviction from his apartment this month.

 

matt.preprost@freepress.mb.ca

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca