SURREY — A cancer survivor best known for being the first to complete the Terry Fox run is in serious condition following a home invasion in the City Centre area of Surrey.
Surrey RCMP confirmed this morning that a male was transported to Royal Columbian Hospital with serious injuries due to stab wounds. The victim is reportedly 49-year-old Steve Fonyo.
Police say three males wearing all black broke down the door at a residence in the 11,000-block of 136th Street at about 5 a.m., stabbing Fonyo in the back.
The residence is across the street from the home where notorious Surrey drug enforcer Larry Mizen was found murdered in his basement suite last year. That murder remains unsolved.
Officers with the Surrey RCMP Serious Crime Unit are still in the early stages of their investigation, but initial indications are that this incident is targeted.
Fonyo has had numerous problems since being the youngest Canadian awarded the Order of Canada in 1985 at the age of 18.
In 1996, he pleaded guilty to 16 charges for offences in Edmonton, including assault with a weapon, aggravated assault, fraud for writing bad cheques totalling $10,000 to supermarkets and possession of a stolen vehicle.
He has also been convicted at least five times of impaired driving and seven times of driving without a licence, most recently in the fall of 2008.
His membership in the Order of Canada was revoked in 2009.
Anyone with further information is asked to contact Surrey RCMP Serious Crime Unit at 604-599-0502 or if they wish to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or www.solvecrime.ca.