Two years after Tim Hague died following a boxing match in Edmonton, his family is demanding someone to take responsibility.
“This fight should never have taken place,” said Norm Assiff, the family’s lawyer, “It’s unfortunate nobody is taking responsibility yet but somebody will at the end of the day.”
At a news conference Monday Afternoon, Ian Hague recalled the family’s difficult decision to take his brother off life support.
Hague, 34, was in a coma at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. His head was bandaged from surgery. He suffered a hemorrhage on the left side of his brain and doctors had told the family almost half of Tim’s brain was dead. His family decided to take Tim off life support.
“I want you to picture your son, your brother, your best friend and picture this happening to them and maybe this could’ve been prevented,” Ian Hague said.
“I know you’re all thinking ‘why didn’t you just tell him to stop?’ Trust me we did. Anyone that knows Tim probably told him toward the end maybe it’s time to hang them up for good.”
The Hague family is now suing the City of Edmonton and other parties for $5.3 million.
In a Statement of Claim filed on June 7, the family named the City of Edmonton, Edmonton Combative Sports Commission, former ECSC Executive Director Pat Reid, current branch manager for Community Standards and Neighbourhoods David Aitken, and promoter K.O. Boxing as the defendants.
Ari Schacter, one of the lawyers representing the Hague family in their lawsuit is calling for the province to oversee combative sports in Edmonton. It’s a view Edmonton’s Mayor Don Iveson expressed before.
“I think there should be an overseeing body that’s not controlled municipally. I think there should be a provincial agency that has better oversight over combative sports throughout Alberta so fights are properly recorded and something like this never happens again,” Schacter said.
A third-party report into Hague death’s released in 2017 found a number of policies were not followed before the fight. The report also made a number of recommendations to improve fighter safety, but it did not assign blame.
The City of Edmonton has yet to file its Statement of Defence.
