Site C stabbing victim home recovering with family

Readers are advised that this story contains explicit references to physical injuries and medical treatments, which some may find distressing.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – A man stabbed in the back by a coworker in August at a Site C workers’ camp has returned to the region to continue his recovery. 

Leo O’Brien told Energeticcity.ca he was taken by surprise by the events of August 24th while working at BC Hydro’s Site C work site. 

O’Brien recalls how he noticed something was off with the man who would later become his assailant, Stephen Barnes, several hours ahead of the incident. O’Brien explained he and Barnes were not familiar with each other prior to the incident. 

During the morning’s 8 a.m. ‘toolbox’ gathering, O’Brien saw Barnes punch a company vehicle, and then later get into a physical argument with another employee O’Brien was familiar with. 

Both instances, O’Brien stated, occurred in front of a general foreman, and Barnes was not told to return to the work camp. 

O’Brien and Barnes later met in the lunch room of the work camp at 10 a.m.

“When I got to the lunch room, he asked me if I had a problem. I said no, I don’t have a problem ‘till after work,” O’Brien recounted.

“I turned around to sit down and eat my yogurt, and he ran over with an eight-inch serrated steak knife, rounded tip and stabbed me in the back with it, and left the knife in there.”

Fort St. John RCMP and emergency medical services attended the scene, and Barnes was arrested and taken into custody. 

O’Brien was rushed by ambulance to the Fort St. John Hospital Emergency Department before being transported by plane to Alberta.  

“It was 14 hours with the knife in my back because we had to fly. I passed out twice on the plane because of turbulence, and then on landing, same thing. Once we hit the ground, I just passed out, and I woke up a couple days later in the hospital without the knife in my back.” 

O’Brien was transported to Edmonton’s University of Alberta to have the knife removed and receive attention from a neurosurgeon. 

The six-hour surgery included the removal of a piece of bone to extract the knife. The knife went through O’Brien’s T5 vertebrae, severing the left side of the membranes on the spine, but only cut two thirds through the right side.

O’Brien explained he is now paralyzed from his gut down, and while he does maintain some mobility in his right leg, his left leg is entirely paralyzed. 

 “I’m going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I’ll be able to walk, but I won’t be able to walk far because my right leg is numb all the time.” 

O’Brien returned home to family on December 4th, and is continuing his recovery with his family. 

Olivia Nelson, the mother of their children, said the incident has ‘done damage I never thought I would deal with.’

“Outraged and broken doesn’t even start to cover it,” Nelson said.

A GoFundMe organized to support O’Brien’s medical expenses and family was started following the incident and has since raised $27,185. 

According to Court Services Online records through the provincial Ministry of Attorney General, Barnes has appeared in Williams Lake Law Courts and Fort St. John Law Courts for charges of aggravated assault several times between August 24th and November 7th. 

These same documents indicate Barnes was in custody until his September 27th appearance in Williams Lake Law Courts. His most recent court appearance was on November 7th at the Fort St. John Law Courts. 

Barnes’ next court date is scheduled for January 15th, 2025, at the Kelowna Law Courts for a pre-trial conference. 

Energeticcity.ca spoke with BC Hydro regarding the incident, but the utility declined to comment. 

Energeticcity.ca also reached out to the Fort St. John RCMP for details regarding Barnes’ arrest, but did not hear back in time for publication.