(by Margot Grant) Fox is 29. His parents in Port Coquitlam sold him to a pedophile when he was 11. He ended up homeless in the woods for five years, often starving. He now lives in a dorm at the Upper Deck Guesthouse in Sechelt.
We met at Arrowhead. Fox suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “I can’t sleep, I always have one eye open, I don’t trust anybody.”
When he was 11, his parents took him to a Dairy Queen in Port Coquitlam and told him that he was going to live with a man who had applied to be his guardian. Fox calls him a monster. “I was his third victim, but the authorities did not know that at the time.”
Fox lived with the man for 10 years. He went to school in Port Coquitlam and finished Grade 12 with good grades. The man taught him how to drive. Other than that, he learned nothing, he says. “I have no life skills. There are so many things I do not know.”
He never saw his parents. He is now looking for them to get some answers. He can’t understand how this happened.
Eventually, a kid whom the man had previously abused went to the police. The man was arrested and convicted. He had to serve two years but there was a delay before he could go to prison. The man ran away from Port Coquitlam, taking Fox with him. They moved to Sunshine Valley and then to Bowen Island where they got jobs at the Bowen Island Building Centre. Fox is still angry about it. “He bossed me around and made me do all his work as well. It was horrible.”
Why did he not go to the police? “I had been groomed by him; I could not imagine I could do that. But I did do it later.” Fox has recently gone to the RCMP in Sechelt with a statement and photos of scars, he says.
After some time on Bowen, the man left to serve his term. “He did not even say goodbye. He left me there to die,” Fox scoffs. He ended up with no papers: no birth certificate, no care card, no driver’s licence, no bank card or other documentation.
He was severely traumatized and did not know what to do. Without papers, he couldn’t get a job. He had no idea how to get papers, or help. He ended up living in the woods on Bowen for five years, he says.
There seemed to be no way out. “It is hard to live in a community when you can’t keep clean, when there is no chance of a job, when people don’t want to talk to you.”
Although he got food from the food bank, he was often starving. However, the isolation was the worst, he says. “Nobody knows about you, you feel like a ghost.”
Eventually he met Andrew, who was in the same circumstances. They started to break into cottages and empty houses, looking for food. “I‘m not proud of that,” Fox says.
When the police went after them, they stole a Lund boat and a 8-hp Yamaha Outboard and went to Misery Bay on Salmon Inlet. The two set up a tent and tried to live off the land. They were miserable. “We had to fight an angry bear. We never caught any fish, there was nothing to eat, and there were raccoons.” He discovered that his companion was a convicted criminal.
They broke into cottages on Salmon Inlet and Narrows Inlet to steal food and things like a generator, an aluminum boat, kayaks, a chainsaw, tools, clothes, fishing rods and liquor. Andrew also stole two rifles, a shotgun and a revolver. Because of the firearms thefts the RCMP sent an Emergency Response Team after them, Crown prosecutor Trevor Cockfield said yesterday in Sechelt. The ERT is the paramilitary arm of the RCMP and wears military-style camouflage uniforms and bulletproof vests. They had a dog with them, Cockfield remembers. “The dog bit me in the leg and nearly dragged me over a cliff. I had an automatic shotgun pointed at my face,” Fox says.
Andrew and Fox were arrested and taken to Sechelt. The court records show 25 charges against them. When they were sentenced on January 26, 2016, Fox got two years probation and a $900 fine. He was not convicted for possession of firearms. Andrew was; he received a one-year sentence.
Fox’ records show no violation of his parole conditions. He has had no contact with Andrew. Fox says he has done nothing wrong since his arrest.
Rather than going to the shelter, Fox moved to the Upper Deck Guesthouse where he has stayed for the last year and a half. He pays $600 a month for a bed in a dorm room with six beds. He doesn’t like it much. “There is always somebody who snores. I can’t sleep. And I can’t really use the kitchen because at any given time, there are at least four people, if not more, messing with pots and pans. I love cooking for people and would like to have friends over for dinner.”
He has very few worldly belongings; he keeps them in two or three backpacks.
Fox would like a place of his own. “It’d be great to have a quiet bedroom. When you get up in the morning, you go to your own bathroom without waiting, you make breakfast in your own kitchen, then you go to work.”
Fox works five days a week as a landscaper. Vancouver Coastal Health vocational rehabilitation coordinator Keith Donkersloot takes crews of people in the mental health program to cut grass and prune trees for members of the community. The money goes to the workers. Fox makes $60-$85 a day. He can’t work anywhere else because he still has no ID. He likes to work; it keeps his mind off his past and gives him a sense of purpose.
Aside from his earnings, he also receives disability pay. “So I have money, but I have a bad spending problem,” Fox says. “I keep giving it away. Some people take advantage of me, but I keep wanting to help them. It’s like it is in my blood. I want to be a social worker.”
Fox is trying hard to save and is succeeding; he already has more than $1,000. He’d like to buy a car and needs money to move to Vancouver to go to the School of Social Work at UBC. He is applying as soon as he has his papers, he says. The process is almost finished; he has managed to get his birth certificate. He wants to work during his studies.
“Obviously, If I had had a proper childhood, with good parents, I would not be in this situation. But I am telling you my story because I hope people who have been traumatized realize that they have nothing to be ashamed of. The fact that that monster used me does not mean I am broken. I want to become the example of what you can do if you got hurt. I’ve been through hell and back and it has given me spirit and understanding.” He smiles. “I’m going to change the world.”
He wants to add one more thing. “Be kind to the homeless. Help them clean up, get a job, a place to live. Let them shine.”
This is a great story. It’s so important to humanize homeless and disadvantaged people. I wish Fox the very best of luck in achieving his dreams.
Awesome story, if you are ever on Vancouver Island, you’re welcome to drop in for a night or two at our place, no charge. We would just like to make you welcome, and chat with you in person. But if not, all the best in your life’s endeavours! You should be proud of yourself, despite the hardships. Love to you!
“When they started to break into houses on the inlet for food, the army went after them.”
Oh man, I’ll never forget the time I was part of Operation Forest Hobo, it was a magical time in the army.
Who writes this garbage?