Lethbridge victim of violent sexual attack says she's a 'survivor' but family details ongoing trauma

A young woman nearly killed when she was beaten with a metal pipe, raped and left for dead in a Lethbridge alley says she is a "survivor." But at a sentencing hearing for the attacker, her family members detailed themany lives derailed by the violence.

It is a source of constant conflict for the victim and her family; they celebrate her survival but also still deal withtheir own trauma while grievingthe loss of her personality, independence and quality of life.

"At times I even wished [Denzel] Bird had finished me offbut then I remember how strong I am and I don't want to give him that power over me," the victimwrote in a statement read aloud by a cousin."I am a survivor."

Bird, 21, pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault in September 2017, a year after he attacked a young woman, leaving her for dead in a garbage bin.

A sentencing hearing took place in Lethbridge Wednesday; the prosecution is asking for a 20-year prison term while defence lawyer ToniiRoulstonargued for a six- to eight-year sentence.Judge JerryLeGrandeurwill set a date to deliver his sentence later this month.

Birdoffered a tearful apology at the end of the day: "Ido pray each and every night for forgiveness, to have that girl heal."

• 'I'm so sorry for that poor girl': Man pleads guilty in vicious sexual assault in Lethbridge

Although the victim's husband isgrateful for the progress she's made physically, he said "she has come back as someone else;" someone who can be mean and who lacks empathy.

He says her "beautiful personality" is gone and he's now taken on a role resembling a parent/child relationship.

The victimand herfamilyparticipated in the hearing from a remoteroom linked to the courtroom by closed-circuit TVin order to lessen the trauma of being in the same space as the man responsible for the brutal attack.

A 25-year-old newlywed at the time, the woman suffered a severe, traumatic brain injury and was in hospital for months, spending the first few weeks in a medically induced coma. She had to re-learn how to walk and speak. Her personality has completely changed.

Bird hung his head in the prisoner's box as his victim and her family members delivered several tearful statements detailing how the attack has affected their lives.

Husband 'fell apart'

Tension grew in the courtroom during the husband's statement, as he told people to look at Birdand then painstakingly detailed the gruesome, sexual violence the rapist had committed against his wife.

Her hair wasso soaked in her own blood, the blondcolour no longer visible, her body forced into the pavement, scraped and torn by gravel.

Married just weeks before to his high school sweetheart, the husband saidthe woman he fell in love with is gone.

Her family had been told she was just "inches from death," and if she survived, she'd likely live the rest of her days at a care facility.

The victim's husband, who has refused to leave his wife's side, says he feels lonely "even though she is always with me." He said he's lost and depressed.

The couple's dreams, freedoms and goals are onindefinitehold, said their loved ones.

Once fiercely independent, the victimnow relies completely on her husband and lives with his parents.His mother describedwatching her son "fall apart" in the days and weeks following the attack.

Her own parents are divorcing, the stress of dealing with the aftermath of the attack too much for their 22-year marriage to survive.

They are two more of Bird's victims.

'There reallywasn't a hope at that time'

Other family members described the day she failed to show up at workand the frantic hours spent searching afterwards until police confirmed an injured, unidentified woman in hospital was their loved one. Medical staff warned them there was no guaranteeshe would survive her injuries.

"Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw," wrote the woman's stepfather about seeing her battered body hooked up tolife support. In that moment he said,her mother collapsed on the floor.

"Amid the blood, bruises, horrible swelling of her face and head, I could make out our little girl.I wanted so badly to give her a hug but we couldn't touch her."

In his statement, the victim's father-in-law said "there reallywasn't a hope at that time."

Passers-by found victim

When provincial court Judge JerryLeGrandeuraccepted Bird's guilty plea, the facts of the crime were read aloud by the prosecution.

Court heard that Bird was drunk andarmed with a metal pipe whenhe attackedthe young woman as she walked to work on the morning of Sept. 30, 2016.

Bird was sitting at a bus stop at Sixth Avenue between 20thand 21st streets in the city's south end. When the victim walked past, he hit her over the head with the pipe. It's unclear how many times Bird hit the woman but she fell to the ground unconscious and ultimately suffered several skull fractures and broken bones in her face.

The woman was then dragged into a nearby nearby alley, where Birdtook off herpants and sexually assaulted her. Afterward, hetried to hide her body by stuffing her into a residential garbage can.

Two men heading to work spotted the victim and called 911 around 8a.m.

'So sorry for that poor girl'

The victim was near death by the time police and paramedics found her. She waspartially naked, bloodied andface-down in a garbage bin in an alley.

Bird showed up at a local homeless shelter later that morning with blood on his clothing. DNA testing would later determine it was the victim's.

During a police interrogation Bird confessed to the attack, telling officers he was "tired of lying." He also said he was "so sorry for that poor girl."

The victim continues to recover, continuing to struggle with memory loss and balance. She can not rememberbeing attacked by Bird but says physical scars tell part of the story.

"Now I have scars that remind me of how strong I have become," she wrote in herstatement read aloud by a cousin.

"I am more alive than ever; hehasn'tbroken my spirit. He hasn'ttaken away my will to live."