As a Canadian living in Melbourne, the recent death of Canadian backpacker Cain Aguiar hit a little too close to home. The rising level of violence in this city, both in frequency and severity, is cause for concern.
It seems standard now to open the Monday newspaper only to read about a big brawl, bottling, or stabbing leading to hospitalized victims and worse, as in this case, ending in death. Last week Cain, while drinking by himself at a local pub, was attacked by three men, allegedly because he was talking to a woman known by the three accused.
As Cain lay in a hospital bed on life support, his sister set up a Facebook group for others to join and offer their support and well wishes. Unfortunately, the group theme had to be changed from “hope” to “rest in peace” when the family made the impossibly difficult decision to turn off the life support.