BHS graduate recovering from emotional, physical adversity from assault

Jessica Cook returned from her dream honeymoon last fall to a nightmare she described as something “out of a horror movie.”

Sixteen months after she met her husband Matthew through one of her professors, the couple married in an elegant August ceremony in front of more than 150 friends and family members in British Columbia’s oldest church, St. Stephen’s Anglican.

The newlyweds then crossed the border on their way to a honeymoon in San Francisco.

Cook, a 2001 graduate of Bainbridge High School, and her new husband absorbed the eclectic nature of the city and made the week-long venture back north through some of the country’s most lush forests and picturesque beaches. They visited Cook’s parents, Paul and Colleen Ziakin of Bainbridge Island, before returning to Victoria. Cook, 26, was prepared to start school, on her way to an honors degree in art history from the university.

Just days after they returned home, the magic of Jessica Ziakin and Matthew Cook’s wedding and honeymoon faded, rapidly replaced by fear and prayer for the health of the bride.

“We were all still feeling really good about the wedding, and they moved in together, and then three days later it happened,” Paul Ziakin said.

On the morning of Sept. 9, Cook awoke at 3:30 a.m. after hearing a noise downstairs.

“What still puzzles me is when I heard that squeak I knew it was more than just the cat,” she said. “I knew it was a person. I was like a little kid, I just sat up and went downstairs. It was just really uncharacteristic of me.”

She checked on the cat, and before returning to bed, Cook went to use the bathroom.

There she encountered her assailant.

A young man in a hooded sweatshirt, holding two kitchen knives, one of which Cook said was a wedding gift, leapt out of the bathroom, twice stabbing her in the process.

First, the would-be burglar slashed her shoulder and ring finger with a bread knife. Then he cut the back of her left knee, piercing the femoral artery in the process.

“It was straight out of a horror movie,” she said.

As soon as he attacked Cook, the gravity of the situation hit the invader. He froze and apologized profusely as Cook screamed for her husband.

“After that flash moment he went from being a malevolent presence that was looming in the darkness to this scared little kid,” she said. “The kid was just in panic mode.”

Matthew Cook grabbed the attacker but let him go so he could attend to his wife’s wounds.

When paramedics arrived to remove Cook from the two-floor duplex, they decided to sit her up, which caused her to pass out.

“It was then that I had the near-death experience of being enveloped in the darkness that was just warm and comforting,” she said. “I wasn’t afraid to die. For Matthew’s sake I didn’t want to die.”

Cook quickly regained consciousness and stayed awake until her condition stabilized at a hospital.

As Cook’s recovery began, the attacker, an 18-year-old ward of the state, turned himself into Victoria police on Sept. 13.

Though he inflicted great pain on Cook – physically, emotionally and financially – she refused to participate in the public blood-lust against the attacker.

“I didn’t want him to rot in jail,” she said. “I understood that he was a young person who didn’t have much of a chance.”

The suspect was let out on bail, Cook said, but police barred him from entering Vancouver Island. Calls to Victoria police were not returned.

He was charged with aggravated assault, robbery, breaking and entering and assault with a weapon. In February, he is expected to enter a plea for the charges against him.

“This is a real anomaly, this kind of thing happening in Victoria,” Paul Ziakin said. “The whole community was stunned by this. Violent crime is usually criminal against criminal.”

As her suspect moves through the justice system, Cook’s recovery continues.

Cook, who previously worked as a sous-chef at Victoria’s finest French restaurant, just recently regained the ability to walk on her own. Surgeons told her she’d be walking by November. But the presence of a full-leg cast caused her muscles to atrophy so dramatically that she was forced to exercise at home for several months to recover her strength. Just this week, Cook began driving again, one of the things that afford her the most independence she’s had since the attack.

“I thought by the end of the year I’d be fine, but the process has been much slower and time consuming than I thought it would be,” she said.

The burden of physical recovery increased over time, but the psychological effects of the attack surfaced immediately.

When she returned home, her husband had to escort her into the bathroom, the scene of the attack. Every noise frightened her.

“Any little sound could have been another person with ill intent,” she said.

But Cook, an individual strong of mind and reason, dismissed these thoughts over the following months.

Though the experience has been painful and traumatic, it led her down a new path. An art history major, Cook plans to add a psychology major and begin pursuing medical school. Typically, a sudden change in career paths could negatively affect one’s schooling, but Cook’s family believes the honor student at BHS and the University of Victoria can seamlessly change gears.

“Anything’s possible for her right now,” Paul Ziakin said.

Though Cook is unsure where she would take a medical concentration, she would like to work either in neuroscience or public policy, helping women in the field of reproductive health.

Cook is recovering well, and the injury has opened new doors, but yet another problem has surfaced: money.

“As I progressed and got my head above water, that’s

when we started seeing the full effect. The financial devastation that it brought, the strain on our new marriage.”

Cook said the government assists people who lose income as a result of violent crimes. But for Cook, who relies primarily on academic financial aid to pay the bills, no such services exist. Additionally, she received her health insurance through school, but as a result of dropping out temporarily because of her injuries, Cook lost her coverage.

Cook now pays for physical therapy, prescriptions and other medical expenses out of pocket.

To make matters worse, Matthew Cook, who works at a brewery, had his hours cut back to part-time status.

“He’s had to care for me so much that he hasn’t had the time or energy to go out there and get different training and explore his options in school,” she said.

Normally, Cook’s parents would assist her as much as possible. But the economy has taken its toll on them as well. Paul Ziakin’s hours as a software implementation manager at Davis Langdon, an international construction consulting firm, were recently cut back.

“We’re not in a position to help,” he said. “We’re in kind of a financial pickle ourselves.”

But through all of this, the intense physical therapy, the skyrocketing medical expenses and the psychological trauma, Jessica Cook remains positive.

“It was a terrible, horrific thing, but there is something around every corner,” she said.

Cook’s father continues to marvel at her strength and refusal to submit to adversity.

“She’s not a victim,” her father said. “None of us in our family have ever been comfortable in that role. She’s taking this as a challenge, and she’ll come out of it a better person.”

*******

Help the family

The attack has taken a tremendous financial tole on Matthew and Jessica. To donate to the family visit their facebook fan page