Vancouver fire attack victim speaks out, calls for witnesses

GRAPHIC WARNING: The following details may disturb some readers. 

For the first time since being brutally attacked, set on fire, and robbed, Dane Cameron of Vancouver is speaking publicly from a hospital burn unit, calling for any witnesses to come forward.

It’s been a few days since Cameron had skin graft surgeries and burns still cover his chest, neck, and parts of his face. He says the attack has been life changing.

“I’m in a lot of pain,” he told The Leader Spirit Wednesday.

“Professionally, I did a lot of labour work. That’s up in the air as far as whether or not I’ll be able to continue my career. I have to adjust my lifestyle around my injuries that I’ve sustained from this attack.”

Cameron says he was having a conversation with someone outside the Main Street-Science World Station before 2 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 12, when someone came up to him and sprayed some kind of fluid on his face.

“I ignore it,” he said.

“I only got a slight glimpse of who it was, I tried to ignore them, because I thought, ‘okay, well, I’m not going to give them the time of day.’ That’s when they — whoosh — lit me on fire. They used a lighter. I was doused from my face going down to my pants. That’s when they lit me up. And at that point, it was just a moment of great disbelief, and pain. My adrenaline was going.

It’s getting hotter and hotter, I’m inhaling flames, and at one point, as I’m losing hope, I laid down on the ground, and just decided that I’ll probably end up dead.”

But then someone drove their car up onto the curb and rushed to his aid.

“A hero by the name of Andrew Coulthard came by and put out the flames. He and his friends got some water, he and his friends got some water, they doused the flames on my face, they were pouring water on my face, they called an ambulance. Without him or his intervention, I would probably be dead by now.”

Earlier this month, Coulthard remained humble when meeting Cameron’s parents who were eternally thankful that someone stepped in — especially when there were others standing by.

The Vancouver Police Department last said it has investigative leads in this case – and Cameron says he’s hopeful they’ll find who attacked him.

Cameron is a busker and while he’s been in hospital, music has been the balm for his soul — particularly country and folk music.

Showing a pair of cowboy boots made in Texas, he said, “I was wearing these during the attack, actually.”

While the fire destroyed his clothes and someone stole his guitar, he managed to hold onto the boots — seemingly unscathed.

“I’m not going to let what happened disable me. I’m going to keep playing and singing and get better,” said Cameron.