A dream trip around the world took a nightmarish turn in the wee hours of Feb. 27 for Australian tourist Robert Schneider, who was savagely beaten by two men and thrown into a fire pit in Ocean Beach.
The incident has left Schneider’s family struggling to cope with his unimaginably painful recovery and has left local residents stunned and outraged by the brutality of the attack in their own community.
Yet the healing process has begun ” on many different levels.
The 26-year-old remains hospitalized but is gradually improving and was recently awakened from a medically induced coma. For parents Judy and Peter Schneider, that progress is no small feat considering the scope of their son’s 2nd- and 3rd-degree burns and other injuries.
“It’s been a long haul and still a way to go, but he’s certainly doing better each day,” said Peter Schneider.
The doctors kept Schneider heavily sedated so he would not move or disturb the skin grafts on his back and stomach, according to Kim Edwards, spokesperson for UC San Diego Medical Center (formerly UCSD Medical Center-Hillcrest).
The procedure is standard in burn cases and allows the body to heal and the brain to relax, Edwards said.
“For about a week he will kind of be in this no-man’s land where sometimes he’ll know where he is and be able to speak. He recognized his mom a couple of days ago,” Edwards said. “But then the next day he was totally out of it and didn’t know where he was. It just kind of goes like that for a while until they fully wake up.”
Schneider has had multiple surgeries to repair a severe skull fracture, deep facial lacerations, a broken right hand and burns.
“They think there is no brain damage, but when you have a concussion like that they don’t know the full extent of things for about six months,” Edwards said. “(As) with any burn situation, he’s going to have a long recovery. But he’s very strong.”
The Schneiders are optimistic about their son’s future and, in time, that he will make a complete recovery.
“His hand-mouth coordination is great,” Peter Schneider said. “We’re only talking two or three days, and yesterday he was able to take a drink container in his hand with a straw and then put it in his mouth by himself.”
As Robert Schneider continues his battle to heal, many in the local community are pledging to do whatever they can to help the injured tourist and his family ” including the establishment of a special fund and a benefit dinner planned for April 13 in Downtown San Diego.
Meanwhile, police officials continue their search for the men believed responsible for Schneider’s severe injuries.
Frank Montoya, 47, and Damian Maple, 21, are accused of beating Schneider with a skateboard, leaving him unconscious during an argument near the lifeguard station at the foot of Abbott Street in Ocean Beach.
Montoya is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 5 inches tall, 160 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. Maple is described as a white male, 6 foot 2 inches, 185 pounds, with blue eyes and brown hair.
Though mug shots were distributed by police last week, both suspects remain at large and are believed to be transients.
The Schneiders don’t share the perpetrators’ harmful desires, however.
“That’s up to the legal system,” Peter Schneider said. “Our position is that these people need to stand accountable for what they have done.”
Many in the community are turning their thoughts now to how best to help.
When Carl Gregory of San Carlos and Roseann Iovine of Point Loma heard what happened to the young Australian visitor, it touched a chord. Gregory and Iovine, who had never met, stepped in and wanted to do more.
They established the Friends of Robert Schneider Fund at Wells Fargo Bank (account No. 7707402199). Gifts to the fund can be made through checks payable to: Friends of Robert Schneider, Outdoor Travel Adventures, c/o Robert Schneider Campaign, PO Box 60084, San Diego, 92166.
“I’ve had everything from money being offered to gift cards to [offers of] ‘Where can I volunteer,'” Gregory said. “I’ve been contacted by retired attorneys, retired health-care workers. It’s just a whole plethora of people.”
Gregory and Iovine are also organizing a fundraising dinner to be held on Sunday, April 13 from 2 to 6 p.m. at Bondi, 333 5th Ave. in the Gaslamp Quarter. Admission is $8 and includes an Australian barbecue, a live band and raffle prizes. Gregory can be contacted at (619) 454-0294, or by e-mailing [email protected].
“Our objective is to raise money to get him back on his feet,” Iovine said.
Gregory agreed.
“They (Schneider’s parents) really want to see the funds go to Rob’s flight back to Australia when he’s healthy enough,” Gregory said. “They don’t have tickets for him. His international medical insurance covers most of it but it doesn’t cover any rehab or transportation costs.”
With a thirst for travel, Robert Schneider worked in Australia’s mining industry for over a year to save money for his trip and had been on the road since May.
The Adelaide native spent the last five months in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama.
Peter Schneider said his son is an outdoors person who loves surfing and was getting his dive master’s certificate in Costa Rica to operate dive cruises.
Robert made his way to San Diego to buy a surfboard and connect with friends on a surfing expedition down the Mexican coast, according to his parents.
“He’s familiar with San Diego,” said Peter Schneider. “He came through here June-July last year. We were actually quite relieved when he got to San Diego that he was again in a safe area on that leg of his journey.”
They have mixed feelings when it comes to their son traveling again, though they said he is a smart traveler and has trekked far from Australia on his own since childhood.
“Part of us says, ‘You stay at home,’ the other half says, ‘When you fall off a horse, you got to get back on,” Peter Schneider said. “He’s an adult and he’s got to make his own decisions.”
From the outpouring of medical staff to police detectives to absolute strangers, Schneider’s parents said they are profoundly grateful for the vast expressions of compassion and kindness they have received.
That includes the homeless man who Peter Schneider said pulled his son from the fire that fateful morning and went to get help.
“Without that guy doing that, who knows where he’d be,” said Peter Schneider. “In principle, that homeless guy saved his life. People think homeless people are just layabouts and no good, but here’s a homeless guy that had a heart.
“We would love to be able to find that guy and give him a hug and buy him a meal or whatever,” Peter Schneider continued. “We are going to be indebted to that person, as will Robert, for the rest of his life.”