Community members and fellow artists are rallying around two men recovering from injuries they suffered in a brutal assault in Clementsport, N.S., last month.
David Parker, a former principal horn with Symphony Nova Scotia, and Mark Grantham, a popular visual artist, both sustained serious injuries when they were attacked by a stranger outside their home on Sept. 6, says a GoFundMe page set up by Grantham’s sisters.
The online fundraiser says Parker suffered serious head trauma, Grantham’s arm was broken and the pair required surgeries to repair facial injuries.
“It was heartbreaking,” said Anne Simons, a violinist with Symphony Nova Scotia and one of Parker’s longtime friends. “We were all gutted to hear about this terrible attack.”
The GoFundMe page says that Grantham is recovering at home but Parker remains in hospital. It describes Parker as “now also a self-employed artist” and says neither will be able to work “for the foreseeable future.”
As of Friday afternoon, the campaign had raised more than $126,000, topping the original goal of $120,000.
Friends speak about pair’s contribution to art
In an interview with Information Morning Nova Scotia, Simons said she’s visited Parker three times in hospital and has seen visible improvement since he was first admitted.
“I think he’s doing better each day. He’s speaking more positively each time I see him,” she said.
Information Morning – NS9:45Nova Scotia’s arts community rallies behind two men who were brutally attacked
Admirers and friends of visual artist Mark Grantham and symphony musician David Parker are showing their love and support after the men were both seriously injured in an assault last month that happened outside their home.
Parker, the godfather to Simons’s oldest daughter, was the principal French horn player with the symphony orchestra for more than 20 years before he retired in 2022.
“He’s just a lovely person and a salt-of-the-earth type of guy,” Simons said.
Trina Oickle Pottie echoed that sentiment about Grantham. She said her friend of more than 35 years found beauty in everything.
“If you’ve seen his art, you know that to be a factual statement,” she said. “He can make a rainy day look joyous.”
Though she said she hasn’t seen Grantham in several years, Pottie said she was shocked to hear about the attack.
Both Pottie and Simons said they have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support the couple has received through the GoFundMe campaign and on social media. They said the pair are well known and well liked in their community.
Man charged with aggravated assault
An RCMP news release issued on Sept. 9 said the couple were assaulted by a man who was involved in another altercation on the same night they were attacked.
A 25-year-old man from Clementsport was arrested on Sept. 7 and charged with multiple offences, including two counts of aggravated assault, the release said.