Calgary senior paralyzed in CTrain attack grieves loss of mobility at hearing

It was an emotional day in court for the family of a Calgary woman who wasparalyzed after she was pushed into the path of an oncoming CTrain by a stranger in 2018.

Stephanie Favelpleaded guilty to aggravated assault and admitted to being high on crystal meth when she made thesplit-second decision to attack Rozalia Meichl, 64, and push her ontothe tracks at the Victoria Park/Stampede Park LRT station in November.

Meichl's family gasped and cried when surveillance video of the incident was played in court Tuesday during the sentencing hearing.

Warning: The below video shows the assault and may be upsetting to some viewers.

Surveillance video shows 64-year-old pushed onto LRT tracks

5 years ago

Duration 1:29

A surveillance video from November 2018 shows Rozalia Meichl being shoved off the Victoria Park station platform onto the LRT tracks.

"The blatant and obvious act of violence that ultimately led mom to where she is today will undoubtedly haunt me for a very long time," Meichl's son Allan Hein told CBC News outside the courtroom after watching the exhibit.

• Woman paralyzed after push onto CTrain tracks remains in hospital
• 'No animosity' from Calgary senior left paralyzed in unprovoked CTrain attack, family says after guilty plea

'Feel so much less of a woman'

In Meichl's victim impact statement, read aloud in court by her sister Kathy Snow, she outlined the "profound impact" the Nov. 8 incident has had on her andgrieved the loss of her independence.

"I am the one that has been given a life sentence confined to this wheelchair, forever dependent on others for my most basic needs," Meichl wrote.

"My caregivers are all loving people, but they are strangers doing very intimate things for me," the statement continued.

"I will not be able to walk down the aisle on my wedding day or even have the close intimate relationship that I have been so looking forward to. For me there will be no honeymoon. All of this has made me feel so much less of a woman."

In her statement, Meichl said she and her family have neverreceived an apology from Favel, and she askedthe court to consider that in Favel's sentencing.

"An apology and words aren't ever gonna undo what was done to mom, and mom still lives in pain daily from it," said Hein.

"Knowing that Stephanie Favel is going towalk free one day, sooner or later, when my mom will never walk again to me it's just unfair, and no time served is ever going to make that right."

The court heart Favel had a troubled upbringing, being sexually abused byher stepfather and dealing with amother whois sober now, but was an alcoholic for the first 15 years of her life.

Favel's mother, Margaret, expressed her remorse for the "tragedy" that Meichl's family has sufferedand said she hopes her daughter Stephanie gets the help she needs to overcome her drug addiction.

She also said she accepts some of the blame for bringing her daughter up in such a troubled home.

"In a sense, I can understand the family wanting Stephanie to pay for what she's done. And as a mother, I would like her to come home, but also to get help, the help that she needs, desperately needs to be a decent human being in society," Margaret said.

Crown prosecutorDoug Tayloris asking for a five-year sentencewith credit for time served. Defence lawyer Adriano Iovinelli is asking for three to 3 years.