Ryan John with his mother Michelle. (Jaryn Vecchio/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

An Inspiration

P.A. man stabbed twice in the head looking to inspire others with his own recovery

Oct 20, 2023 | 5:00 PM

It’s been just over three years since Ryan John was attacked. Two stab wounds to the head should have killed the 24-year-old Prince Albert man. Instead, it has helped him become more grateful and lead a more healthy and positive life.

John is now planning on writing a book highlighting the recovery of his near death experience.

The Attack

Ryan John’s scars after the attack. (Submitted Photo/Ryan John)

Back on Oct. 14, 2020, John was sitting inside a local restaurant waiting for a pizza he had just ordered. It was then that a man, who was a stranger to John, entered the lobby and immediately stabbed him behind his left ear.

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“As soon as I stood up and took a step back to try and get a grip on what was going on, he grabbed me by my vest, pulled me in, and stabbed me right in the jaw and I felt my jaw instantly crack and go to one side.”

Even though he was in immense pain, John remained calm while the restaurant staff got rid of the man and helped John cover his wounds.

Shortly after the attack, while in an ambulance going to the Victoria Hospital, John said his pain and shock were replaced by a feeling of peace.

“I knew somewhere back in my mind that this was not right because I’ve done some studying on near-death experiences and what that’s like for people and the last minute before they died and go to the other side, they had this feeling of peace.”

But John had no plans of dying.

Near-Death Experience

Ryan John in the hospital. (Submitted Photo/Ryan John)

He was quickly flown to Saskatoon to receive treatment.

John ended up being put into a medically induced coma and during that time, he claims he had an out-of-body experience.

“I was in a place of absolute stillness; I was no longer on a planet rotating while spinning around a sun,” he said. “Some people travel through a tunnel; some people go straight to a white light. I didn’t have that necessarily. Right away, I became a big ball of light… and I could see my life through these pixels.”

Doctors gave John little chance of waking up. If he did, it was suspected he would have no sight, memory, or mobility.

After 13 days of being in the coma, John woke up and could see, move around, and remember the attack in vivid detail.

“The fact that I remember everything including being in a coma is quite remarkable, I think. I’ve never heard of anyone being able to remember that with a head injury that bad,” he said.

John ended up being treated in the hospital for three and a half months. During that time, he had part of his skull removed to relieve pressure on his brain.

He also barely slept which caused him to start hallucinating. Despite all of this, John kept a positive outlook.

“I never felt sorry for myself during this whole thing because I thought that if I started playing the whole pity game or started to feel sorry for myself… that wasn’t going to help me. I wanted to inspire others.”

The fact he didn’t die was hard to grasp for some. John said he recently ran into one of the nurses who helped him in Prince Albert, catching her off guard.

“She was really shocked to see that I was alive…the last thing she heard about me was that I was stabbed twice in the brain, and with her medical knowledge, she predicted that I wasn’t going to make it. She told me it was like seeing a ghost in a way.”

Recovery

Ryan John, with his mother, had part of his skull removed following the attack. (Submitted Photo/Ryan John)

John said he is almost fully recovered from the attack. He’s potentially looking at two more surgeries: one to fix his jaw which still remains slightly dislocated and one to move back the metal plates on his skull as one of the screws has started to protrude out of his forehead. He’s still deciding whether to get the second surgery as it’s not impacting his health and includes some risks.

His mother is holding a fundraiser to pay for the costs of the jaw surgery, which is not covered by healthcare.

Mentally, John feels fully recovered. What really helped him get to this point was forgiving the man who attacked him.

“If you want to heal, don’t let the other person win. If he wanted me to have psychological damage for the rest of my life, he’d probably suspect that I’d be thinking about him all the time.”

His attacker was given a four-year sentence back in 2021 after pleading guilty to aggravated assault.

The Book

John is currently looking for a ghostwriter to help share his story in more detail.

He’s already found someone who plans on creating images of his memories from his out-of-body experience and recovery.

For now, he’s focused on trying to fund his jaw surgery before putting any money into the book. Despite this, he believes the first pages will be written sooner rather than later.

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