ROSWELL, Ga. — A new father who was attacked last week at a park in Roswell and left in a pool of his own blood is recovering, his dad told 11Alive's Hope Ford.
According to Dean Donald, his 40-year-old son Matthew Donald - himself the new father of a 7-month-old child - is now off a ventilator and speaking.
Police are still trying to piece together what happened with Matthew, who suffered a frontal brain injury and is on heavy medications as he recovers. His father said he thinks it may still be a few weeks before Matthew can fully, clearly recount what occurred the night of the attack.
It's expected he will continue to be in the ICU for about another week.
On the night of the attack, Matthew was discovered by a witness who was out for an evening walk. That witness saw him lying roughly 20 feet off the trail in one of the parking lots around 9:25 p.m, according to Roswell officers. When he walked over closer to him, he realized he was hurt and spotted a large pool of blood surrounding him, according to a statement from police.
The witness went home to get his phone and called 911 at 9:37 p.m. to report it to authorities, police said. When officers arrived on the scene, they said they noticed Matthew had significant injuries to his head and his face. Police said they did not notice a blood trail, signaling the victim fell where he was attacked.
After the attack, Dean Donald told 11Alive that his son doesn't live far from the park and considers him an avid walker. Matthew had just put his 7-month-old to sleep and went to the park for another evening walk.
"His thing is to walk early morning and early evening, that's what he really likes doing," Dean said. "He walks 20,000 plus steps a day. So, he walks all over Roswell."
Two other witnesses told police they saw Matthew lying on the ground but did not realize he was hurt, investigators said. One witness said that he had noticed three vehicles leaving the park in a hurry when he arrived and that one of the vehicles appeared to be a "Morelia Taxi."
Dean recounted how his son had just bought brand new red tennis shoes, so when he heard about his son getting attacked, he figured that whoever did it must have wanted to steal the shoes.
"But that wasn't it because when they [witnesses] found him laying here he was unconscious," Dean recalled. "He was all beat up and the shoes were placed neatly next to him."
Police do not yet have a motive behind the attack, but they are hopeful they will be able to learn more once they can speak to the victim, authorities said.
"We're baffled by the whole thing," Dean said. "He's been doing this a long, long time and he's friendly and outgoing; one of the friendliest people I've ever met."