Winnipeg group treats man badly hurt in bus shelter attack to John Mellencamp tickets

A Winnipeg man recovering from a violent assault on Portage Avenue got a touch of kindness this week.

Doug Thomas is going to see John Mellencamp on Tuesday, thanks to Pay it Forward Winnipeg, a local Facebook page focused on spreading random acts of kindness in the city.

The group had been given two free tickets to the upcoming concert, so its facilitator, Ryan DeLong decided to have a draw, asking people to suggest who the tickets should go to.

Someone who read about what happened to Thomas suggested he should get the tickets.

Sure enough, when the draw took place, Thomas' name was picked.

"It's overwhelming to have this kind of kindness to me," said Thomas, who is still recovering.

"I didn't think that this would still be recognized. I didn't think this story would have so much impact on people."

Physical and emotional scars

Thomas was left badly injured after trying to stop two men from beating a man in a bus shack on Portage Avenue.

In addition to having a painful surgery to reconstruct his eyelid, and having blurry vision in his eye, the attack left him traumatized.

"I think it's important for people who have gone through things like this to realize that trauma affects you in different ways, with rage, anger, hurt, pain, sadness, crying for no reason," he said.

"That's what I've been experiencing, so I'm very grateful for all the kindness of people out there."

A huge John Mellencamp fan, Thomas says he's now going to try to find the man he helped and see if he wants to join him.

DeLong, who started the Pay It Forward Winnipeg page about a year ago, said it seems like Thomas was meant to have the tickets.

"It's just a cool moment," he said.

"It felt amazing, just you know, a string of kindness kind of in the end turning out in everyone's favour."

With files from Austin Grabish

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