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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Media moratorium for family of abused city man

By: Melissa Martin

Posted: 05/18/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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Dustin LaFortune before ordeal. ( )

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Recovering in hospital. ( )

At first, the media glare was what they hoped for after worrying no one cared.

It was a way to bring attention to the horrifying case of Dustin LaFortune, the Winnipeg man who was discovered clinging to life at a Regina hospital with shocking injuries after a troubling disappearance. So the LaFortunes skipped sleep and answered emails from journalists. They called in to radio shows. They went on television.

On Monday afternoon, they called it off, announcing a moratorium on media interviews and directing inquiries to the Regina police, who had no updates on the case.

Probably, they could use the break. During a Monday-morning conversation with the Free Press, Dustin's older brother Ryan LaFortune sighed over the state of his inbox. Reporters from The Canadian Press and the Globe and Mail emailed; so did well-wishers, misguided tipsters, long-lost friends. "Every time I hit 'update,' it gets worse," said LaFortune, 32, from his office on Vancouver Island. "Well, not worse, but... "

Not worse, just more. Since early 2010, when Dustin went missing in Calgary, the 26-year-old's family had been crying out for police attention, or media attention, or any attention at all. They started a Facebook group to push for action; for over a month, nothing happened. And then, all of a sudden, something did. "Before this blew up, we had absolutely no help from anybody," Ryan said. "Now... it's going to speed up the process of catching his attacker. If we have to sacrifice ourselves to an extent... well, my life has been altered irrevocably. It doesn't matter. It's nothing compared to the suffering my brother is going through."

Not all press is good press, of course. One article referred to Dustin's "demise," despite the fact he isn't dead. Other outlets pondered the relevance of Dustin's testimony against the accused in an infamous 2004 murder trial. For the record, the LaFortunes vehemently reject the suggestion of a link.

On Sunday, an unidentified man showed up at LaFortune's hospital ward and asked nurses for the family's phone numbers. Reportedly, he got them.

These pitfalls and others along with the "Internet conspiracy theorists" who question if Dustin LaFortune even exists -- are the cold-water wake-up to life on a suddenly international stage. The family is learning. "I'm trying to calm myself down when (inaccuracies) happen," Ryan LaFortune said. "Unfortunately, I've let my temper and my feelings get more aggressive than I would have liked, but I'm going through an interesting time period."

Happily, there are more prayers than problems. On Friday morning, the Facebook group called In Support of Dustin LaFortune had 2,000 members. By Monday morning, that figure was at 7,000 and snowballing. Dustin's story, carried across the world by media, has found its faithful -- in Regina, a group is working to raise money to support Dustin's rehab, which could last at least 18 months. One American is angling to get Dustin's alleged (and un-charged) attacker, the one he reportedly named to police on Friday, on America's Most Wanted.

"Thinking of Dustin and his family down here in Texas," wrote one well-wisher.

Last weekend, nurses told Dustin LaFortune he'd been on TV "Cool," he said.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 18, 2010 A4

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