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    • More than $200K raised for father and son who were struck by a vehicle in Sherwood Park

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    The community is rallying around a Sherwood Park man and his son who were hit by a vehicle earlier this week.

    Ryan Brodziak, his infant son Ozzy, and his dog Gouda were hit by a vehicle driven by a 66-year-old man while walking on a sidewalk on Georgian Way on Tuesday.

    Police say the vehicle crossed into oncoming traffic, jumped the curb, and ended up on a lawn.

    A GoFundMe page set up for the family says Brodziak suffered a "significant spinal cord injury," and remains paralyzed.

    Eleven-month-old Ozzy suffered a skull fracture.

    Gouda was taken to a vet with minor injuries and has since been released.

    Ryan Brodziak (Source: GoFundMe)

    Brodziak is a well-known restaurateur in the Edmonton metro area who's been involved in ventures such as The Local Omnivore, Gravy and the Pink Gorilla pizzeria.

    Last winter, he biked 165 kilometres to raise thousands of dollars for Boyle Street Community Services.

    His brother is former Edmonton Oiler Kyle Brodziak.

    The fundraiser for the family had raised $190,000 by Thursday afternoon with 1,700 donations.

    "Money is not going to make the problem go away, but it definitely helps," family friend John Iatridis told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday.

    "If he doesn't have to worry about any financial burdens, he can concentrate on healing and getting better and getting back to where he needs to be for his wife, his son and himself."

    Iatridis has known Brodziak since they were teenagers.

    "He was just always polite and a happy guy, just a good, positive attitude all the time. And he's just stayed like that," Iatridis said of his friend.

    "He's a sweet guy, and I know he'll come through this."

    Peter Nguyen, the co-owner of Sea Change Brewery, has known Brodziak for 20 years.

    "We never really want to live in a state of fear, but in the blink of an eye, something can change so quickly," he said.

    "He's just been the nicest human being. Whether you've seen him yesterday or you haven't seen him in years, he's just a welcoming guy."

    Crystal Power, owner of Caffreys In The Park, also donated to the fundraiser.

    She doesn't know Brodziak personally felt it was important to support the cause.

    "I knew that he was a restaurant owner. I have been to that restaurant, and I know multiple people who have worked with him in the past at other places," she told CTV News Edmonton.

    "There's the six degrees of separation, but also he's a small business owner himself, and I definitely relate to that."

    Police say the man driving the vehicle that hit Brodziak wasn't injured.

    Speed and alcohol are not believed to be factors in the crash.

    With files from CTV News Edmonton's Miriam Valdes-Carletti 

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    A man who has brain damage has a murder conviction reversed after a 34-year fight

    A man who has brain damage and was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a shopkeeper in London had his decades-old conviction quashed Wednesday by an appeals court troubled by the possibility police elicited a false confession from a mentally vulnerable man. Oliver Campbell, who suffered cognitive impairment as a baby and struggles with his concentration and memory, was 21 when he was jailed in 1991 after being convicted based partly on admissions his lawyer said were coerced. “The fight for justice is finally over after nearly 34 years," Campbell said. “I can start my life an innocent man.” Campbell, now in his 50s, was convicted of the robbery and murder of Baldev Hoondle, who was shot in the head in his shop in the Hackney area of east London in July 1990. He had a previous appeal rejected in 1994 and was released from prison in 2002 on conditions that could have returned him to prison if he got into trouble. Defense lawyer Michael Birnbaum said police lied to Campbell and “badgered and bullied” him into giving a false confession by admitting he pulled the trigger in an accident. He was interviewed more than a dozen times, including sessions without either a lawyer or other adult present. His learning disability put him “out of his depth” and he was "simply unable to do justice to himself,” Birnbaum said. He said the admissions were nonsense riddled with inconsistencies that contradicted facts in the case. At trial, he testified that he was not involved in the robbery and had been somewhere else though he couldn't remember where. A co-defendant, Eric Samuels, who has since died, pleaded guilty to the robbery and was sentenced to five years in prison. At the time, he told his lawyer Campbell was not the gunman and later told others Campbell wasn’t with him during the robbery. Lawyers continued to advocate for Campbell that he wasn't the killer and his case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission which investigates potential injustices. The three judges on the Court of Appeal rejected most of Birnbaum's grounds for appeal but said they were troubled by the conviction in light of a new understanding of the reliability of admissions from someone with a mental disability. The panel quashed the conviction as 'unsafe,' and refused to order a retrial.

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