Manitoba man recovering from surgery in Australia

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Heath Proden travelled to Australia in November to be with his girlfriend, Kristin Sharrock, photographed together in December. But his vacation took a horrific turn when the 35-year-old was attacked by two teens after attending a Doc Walker concert in Sydney. (HANDOUT PHOTO)

Heath Proden came through surgery just fine and talked to his mother from his hospital bed in Sydney, Australia.

"Everything went well with the operation. He sends his thanks to everyone for their concern," his mother Shellan Proden said from Winnipeg Beach this morning.

Doctors in Australia operated Thursday afternoon in Australia (late Wednesday night CST) to relieve swelling near the brain of the Manitoba man who was severely beaten by thugs after a concert by Doc Walker in Sydney.

Heath Proden, 35, was punched in the face and knocked from his wheelchair after he enjoyed a Sydney performance by the Manitoba country band, some of whom are his childhood friends.

"He finished his operation at 10:30 (p.m.) our time Wednesday night," said his mother.

"He was just out of recovery" when they talked, and sounded chipper, she said. Her son was aware of the international media coverage he’s received, and all the people pulling for his recovery.

Shellan Proden said that she expects to hear more this afternoon about Heath’s condition and ability to travel. She has not yet decided whether she will go to Australia, Shellan Proden said.

A grainy, video surveillance -- parts of which made the Internet rounds Wednesday -- shows two teens stomping on Heath and hitting him with a metal bar they pried from his wheelchair. They ran off, only to return and beat him again.

Proden, who uses a wheelchair after a snowmobile accident on Lake Winnipeg 10 years ago, was visiting his girlfriend Kristin Sharrock in Australia.

His mother said she's thinking about heading to Australia to be with her son and his girlfriend.

"We're going to see how he does after the surgery before I make any decision," Shellan said. "This has really touched people, I think. People have been really sympathetic. There is a generous offer from a person in Calgary."

That person is Jason Webb, an Australian who works as a travel agent at Downunder Travel in Calgary. He heard of the incident on his commute to work Wednesday morning and was disgusted by the attack.

So horrified, in fact, that he's extended an offer to Shellan for a free trip to Australia to be with her son.

"I really want to show people that not all Australians are like those idiots who did this," Webb said. "I really feel for the woman, I really do. If I was on the other side of the world and my kid was beaten to a pulp, I would want to be there."

As of Wednesday night, the offer -- estimated to be worth over $2,000 -- stood firm. An answer is expected later this week.

"She's still in shock, so I understand she needs some time," said Webb, adding that he's currently working on finding her a place to stay if she chooses to go. "I'm horrified by this.

"I can't imagine how she feels right now."

Proden said she has talked with Sharrock about the possibility of travelling to Sydney, but is leery of what the visit might do for everyone involved.

"We talked about it and I'm not really sure I want to, with all the media frenzy and everything," she said.

The telephone at Proden's Winnipeg Beach residence rang all day Wednesday, with countless media outlets from around the world looking for comment on what happened and an update on her son's condition.

The experience of having a son in the hospital on the other side of the planet is emotionally taxing by itself; spending countless minutes with a phone pressed against her head, talking to total strangers about an attack on her son, pushed the experience into a whole other level of exhaustion.

"There isn't a city in Canada or North America -- or Australia -- that I haven't talked to," she said. "It's been a little overwhelming at times but it's also been... I guess the more you talk about it the more at ease you are with the whole thing.

"Once I know he's going to be all right... that's the main thing. I could care less about anything else. But I understand the curiosity. It was an appalling thing that happened."

Two youths, who are 15 and 16, have been arrested and charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent, as well as with robbery armed with an offensive weapon causing wounding. The youths were denied bail.

Proden was in Australia to be with Sharrock, who he met at a Pearl Jam concert in Los Angeles last year. The two hit it off instantly and because of that love connection, he travelled there last November.

"He's been through a lot in his life and he doesn't deserve what's happened," Sharrock told The Canadian Press. "I'm sick to my stomach. He came out here for me and he ended up in hospital. And to think that he could have died."

Proden's mother said the couple planned to return to Winnipeg Beach in early May. She said her son had grown up in Portage with the members of Doc Walker, who are in the middle of an Australian tour.

-- with files from The Canadian Press

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca