A Red Lion, York County man is recovering from a traumatic brain injury after police say two men beat him with a skateboard in August. One of those men is behind bars but police are still trying to find the other suspect. Doctors say it’s amazing Guy Verdinelli is alive and talking today. Not only is his family praying he can fully recover, but now they want justice. Especially Guy’s fiancee, Christina. She says she’s still living a nightmare.
“I still get flashbacks, um nothing provokes them, they come out of nowhere and it’s just a horrible thing to see the father of my children in that position that he was in,” says Christina Thompson.
“… she has flashbacks of stuff that I really can’t remember,” says Guy Verdinelli.
Verdinelli suffered a traumatic brain injury in August.
“Kind of comes back to me a little bit but not the whole thing,” says Verdinelli.
He has aphasia. It means he knows what he wants to say, but he has a hard time putting it into words.
“The house was empty without him, I’m glad to have him home. He’s my other half,” says Christina.
Guy and Christina were walking home through the parking lot behind Wells Fargo in Red Lion when three men approached him. Police say Devin Flaharty beat him with a skateboard.
“He needs to learn his lesson for what he did so he doesn’t do it to somebody else,” says Verdinelli.
Police say Flaharty isn’t the only person responsible. Police have one other suspect but they aren’t releasing his name because they’re still investigating. Sgt. Jeff Dunbar says one punch has probably changed Guy’s life forever.
“It just goes to show you how quickly a momentary lapse of reason or just a bad decision can change not just your life but so many people’s lives,” says Sgt. Dunbar.
Verdinelli says he’s working with therapists to improve his speech and he hopes to have his feeding tube removed soon.
