Martial arts fighter didn't know what hit him
Claude Patrick (beating victim).
Claude Patrick still isn't sure exactly what happened after he was attacked in a Quebec hotel room, knocked out with a Taser and woke up in the hospital.
Staff photo by Rob Beintema
A Cooksville man and well-known mixed martial arts instructor and competitor was in a coma for nearly 24 hours after he and several friends were attacked over the weekend in a Quebec hotel room.
"I don't remember what happened; then again, a stun gun to the head will do that to you. I walked into my friend's room to say good night and thanks for the show, and the next thing I know I woke up in the hospital," Claude Patrick, 28, said yesterday while shopping at a Mississauga Wal-Mart. “I’m assuming I got tased from behind. They said I got hit with a stun gun or a Taser and that’s all she wrote.”
Patrick, a program director and trainer at Elite Training Centre on Dundas St. E., has no recollection of what happened. He said he was Tasered from behind "because if I would have been tased from the front, there's no way that person would have left unscathed."
Patrick was in Gatineau for an ultimate fighting tournament in Hull on Saturday night, police said. He didn't participate, but some of his friends who were attacked did compete.
A man believed to be one of the promoters of the event was also seriously injured, but is expected to recover. Gatineau police believe the promoter was the target of the attack due to a financial dispute over services provided at the show.
Police say seven victims were beaten and Tasered by a group of about nine men in the Best Western Hotel Cartier in Gatineau early Sunday morning.
None of the injuries are life-threatening.
Police responded to a call at the hotel just after 4 a.m. Sunday.
Seven people were in a room when one of them answered a knock at the door. Nine culprits burst in and attacked the occupants with stun guns and broken bottles, police said.
Lt. Claude Vaillancourt said something happened the night before to spark the attack, but he wouldn't elaborate.
Patrick, nicknamed "Prince," has lived and trained in Mississauga for most of his life. The International Fight League website labels the 6-foot-1, 170-pounder as "one of the best young athletes in Mixed Martial Arts." He holds a 7-1 record in competitions.
Patrick, a Port Credit Secondary School graduate, believes doctors kept him in a medically induced coma because he hit his head during the attack and they wanted to guard against swelling of the brain.
A CT scan performed Monday showed no adverse effects. Patrick suffered a chipped tooth and bit his lip when he fell.
The longtime Mississauga resident has also worked as an instructor at Kombat Arts Training Academy, on Kamato Rd.
"Nobody wants to see this kind of thing associated with martial arts at all, especially to a guy like Claude who was such an awesome instructor and an awesome guy," said Joey de Los Reyes, owner of Kombat. "Unfortunately, you can't weed out all the criminal element when it comes to this sport."
lrosella@mississauga.net