Calgary man paralyzed in Barbados shooting says 31-year sentence brings 'closure'

Ken Elliott and wife Linda Brooks in their Calgary home.

A Calgary man who was shot and paralyzed during a violent robbery at a home where he was staying in Barbados says two men being sentenced to 31 years in prison helps bring him a sense of closure.

In February 2020, Ken Elliott, his wife Linda Brooks and other members of their family were vacationing on the Caribbean island when two men — one armed with a handgun and the other a machete — stormed inside the home they were renting.

Elliott was shot in the shoulder, leaving him paralyzed from the clavicle down.

The online e-paper Barbados Today reported Monday the judge in the case wanted to impose a severe punishment to deter crime against tourists.

The convicted men will actually only serve another 19 years, after reductions in their sentence for time served and early guilty pleas.

Reached at home in Calgary on Tuesday, Elliott called the sentence "substantial" and said it will help bring him a sense of closure.

After being told for months the sentencing hearing was going to be held, the couple were told last Thursday it would be held, over Zoom, the next morning.

"Is there satisfaction? One has to really recognize the sentence there is really substantial," said Elliott.

"I feel that the (19) years really brings a full circle of closure to it. And I have to applaud and say thanks to the Caribbean government and police department for bringing this to a close."

Brooks wasn't happy with the sentence, however.

"Ken's got a life sentence now in a wheelchair, with no use of bodily functions," she said.

Despite that, Elliott said they try and look at the "blessings" in life.

"Because of my diminished capacities, most everything falls to Linda. Where I used to help her sometimes with dinners, help her with dishes, help her with whatever around the house, do the shoveling of the snow, the raking of the leaves, the cutting of the grass, now we rely on our kind neighbours, who are so, so very kind to come and help do this," he said.

"Our neighbour also walks our dog daily, how nice is that, it makes such a difference. One has to look at the positives, how people have come forward to be helpful."

The couple was able to renovate their home to better suit Elliott's needs thanks to a GoFundMe account launched after the attack.

Elliott has also been growing his hair, hoping to donate it to be made into a wig for a childhood cancer survivor.

He had his hair cut just before the couple departed for the Caribbean more than two years ago and hasn't shorn it since, now reaching just past his shoulders.

"Those poor children, they go through so much," he said.

"Even when I was brought into the hospital, at Foothills, all those people who put up with me for 97 days. It was quite an experience to go through. We have had some wonderful exposures to people who have been kind and helpful."