LONDON, ONT. -- WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: Karen Collins-Scheltgen says she is lucky to be alive after a brutal attack last summer left her emotionally and physically scarred for life.
“I keep reliving the horror over and over in my head,” says Collins-Scheltgen. “I have nightmares all the time.”
On August 30, 2019 she was going to her daughter’s house on Mornington Avenue to let a dog out.
As her grandchildren waited outside, she was attacked by a man who had broken into the house.
“I was stabbed eight times,” says Collins-Scheltgen. “One wound nicked an artery.”
In December 2019, Gary Young, 41 pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm, forcible confinement and break and enter.
At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Collins-Scheltgen gave a tearful victim impact statement.
While looking at Young, who was seated in the prisoners box, she told the court, “You didn’t kill my body, but you killed who I was…I’m always in fear.”
Asked if he anything to say, Young told the court, "I want to apologize, I'm truly sorry...I didn't mean for anybody to get hurt."
The Crown says Young is a high-risk offender and wants him to serve 15-16 years while the defence is asking for eight to 10 years behind bars.
Justice Kevin McHugh will hand down his decision on March 27.
