It's been almost nine years since a young Kamloops man was beaten into a coma with a metal baseball bat and to date he has received only a fraction of the nearly $7 million in damages awarded to him in 2021.
Jessie Simpson lives in a care home with permanent brain damage after Kristopher Teichrieb took a metal baseball bat to the then 18-year-old high school student after Simpson cut through Teichrieb's yard in the early hours of June 19, 2016.
Teichrieb plead guilty to aggravated assault in 2018 and was sentenced to seven years with credit for time served. The attacker was granted statutory release in 2021.
The same year he was released, a civil suit awarded Simpson $6.9 million in damages to be paid out by Teichrieb. Up until now the Simpsons had yet to see even $1 from the decision.
About six months after the attack, Teichrieb sold his house, then valued at $587,000, to his parents for just $1 in anticipation of a lawsuit.
Simpson's mom Sue took the matter to court in an attempt to get the awarded damages, claiming Teichrieb was hiding assets. A decision was made by Justice Joel Groves that Sue would oversee the sale of Teichrieb's home and would receive the proceeds from the sale.
The home at 1715 Clifford Avenue in Brocklehurst was listed for sale in 2023 with an asking price of $850,000 and sold the same year for just under $1 million. However, CIBC had claims in the house because the mortgage wasn't being paid.
Since the sale, Sue has been in court fighting CIBC for the money.
On Jan. 16, the judge released $150,000 of the money to Simpson. Sue said after the lawyer is paid out her son is receiving just $55,000, less than one per cent of the $6.9 million.
"We'll go back to court," Sue said, adding the fight isn't over. "Jessie was being charged $75 a day interest since the house sold, so to stop that from accruing the judge ruled that we pay out the bank for now." Sue noted that the bank has received $500,000.
The remaining amount to be decided upon is around $224,000. If Simpson wins, his mom said a lot of that will have to go to court fees and their lawyer.
"[CIBC] did say they're going to appeal," Sue commented about the judge making a final ruling in her son's favour.
"His brain injury is for the rest of his life. He's never going to be able to work. It's very upsetting for us."
While awaiting the payout, Sue has been doing her best to give Simpson some quality of life outside his assisted living facility, the Hamlets of Westsyde, where the majority of his neighbours are seniors.
Over the years, Sue has collected bottles and cans, hosted online auctions, and runs a to pay the costs of travelling from her Savona home to visit Simpson in Kamloops, medical expenses not covered, maintenance on their wheelchair van and outfitting her house to be able to bring Simpson home on summer weekends.
Sue has received a lot of backlash for pursing the money in court, telling Capital B次元官网网址 that many people believe she's been paid out already. Sue said the people don't understand what it costs to care for her son everyday and "going through the court system for nine years, they don't see all those bills that are there as well for Jessie and for the lawyers and for everything else we've been through."
Despite the ongoing challenges, Sue said her son is always looking at the glass as half full.
"He's got a positive outlook on everything."
As she continues to battle it out in court, Sue said she is in the process of writing a book called 'Justice for Jessie', detailing what life for the single mom and her disabled son has looked like since the attack and Simpson's resilience since waking up from an 11-month-long coma.
Find details on Sue's book at .
