How safe are you in your neighborhood? How important is that sense of safety? What if someone took that feeling away from you? How would it change your life?
Those are some of the questions that went through my mind last month after a vicious assault left my dad lying on the ground, just a few strikes away from brain damage, a lifetime disability or death.
The story goes like this – My dad, Dwaine Palmer, age 64, was walking his miniature poodle, Sweetie, a few blocks from his home in Hinckley. It was about 6:15 a.m. Three men approached. The men reportedly got out of the car and assaulted him. My dad was knocked down and his face was being pounded on and kicked in by one, two or three of the men. He blacked out. The men took his cell phone and ran off. He lay there beaten, badly.
My dad doesn’t remember what happened next, but he was able to make his way home and his wife was able to get help. He was rushed to the Sandstone Hospital and they quickly sent him on to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale after realizing the extent of his injuries.
We meet my dad at the hospital later that day, along with other family members. When I walked into his room and saw him lying there, I couldn’t believe it. It was not a face I recognized. My dad was there, conscious, but his face was a mess. He was suffering from a broken nose, a broken jaw, fractured eye sockets and fractured ribs. His head had swelled to nearly twice its size. There was also a shoe print on the top of his head, a clear sign that the attackers were kicking him while he lay on the ground.
This was my dad.
My heart sunk.
Over the next week, my dad was confined to a hospital bed, undergoing fairly extensive plastic surgery on his face. He now has three plates in his face, one on each side of his jaw and one under an eye. There is also some wire mesh under the other eye to keep that socket in line with the other.
My dad is a trusting man, a gentle man and an active man who is always on the go, always helping people and organizations in whatever way he can. In fact, for several years he has been helping me with this newspaper, Senior Perspective. Each month, he drives from Hinckley (not a short trip) to distribute this newspaper for 2-3 days. If you work at a business in the communities in Willmar or Morris, Benson or Cold Spring, Paynesville or New London, Spicer, Belgrade or Atwater, or any of the other towns along the way, you may have gotten a chance to know my dad.
My dad is now home recovering and is trying to get back into his old routine. This month, with the help of his wife, he hopes to deliver part of his route. He is still working through some eye problems and he is still eating through a straw as his jaw is wired shut. His physical wounds are healing and he is optimistic that his emotional wounds will heal as well. Of course, that is the real wild card here.
The legal part of this case is still a work in progress. One man, a 21-year-old from Brook Park, was arrested and is awaiting trial. He is thought to be the main attacker. Two others have been identified but are not yet in custody. There has been no motive stated for why they did this to my dad.
My dad’s story made state news (google his name and Hinckley to learn more), but never has a state news story hit so close to home. This is a story that you cringe at while watching the news, but then move on to the next story. What gets lost sometimes is how an incident like this affects a family and a community. Do you think anyone in Hinckley feels as safe as they did a month ago? Do you think they ever will? Do you think anyone in my family feels as safe as they did a month ago? Do you think we ever will?