WARNING: This story contains details of a violent attack.

Angela Light sat on the floor of her school’s main office, unsure if she would live or die. 

A colleague held pressure on her wound as she bled profusely. 

The high school administrative assistant in Bedford, N.S., had just been stabbed in the back by a student armed with a knife, and all she could think about was trying to stay alive while waiting for first responders to arrive.

She used her smart watch to call her mother. Her father picked up. 

“I said, ‘I need you to tell Mom that I love her. And I need you to tell my son that I love him. And I love you, and you need to meet me at the hospital,’” Light said, recounting the phone call in an exclusive interview with CBC News. 

Light was one of two employees attacked by a student at Charles P. Allen High School on March 20, 2023. 

The school’s vice-principal, Wayne Rodgers, was stabbed twice. 

The assailant, who was 15 at the time, was sentenced to two years of probation in 2024 after he pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault. His name is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. 

More than three years after the attack, Light said navigating the systems meant to support her has been grueling. 

‘A blood-curdling scream’

Light first knew something was wrong that day when she heard a “blood-curdling scream” from Rodgers’s office. 

She said she jumped up from her desk to see what was going on. She could see the student attacking Rodgers through the glass of his office door. 

Light tried to open the door but it was stuck. She instructed the security guard on duty to call the police. 

Eventually, she saw Rodgers fall onto his back as the student continued to attack him. 

She doesn’t know who finally managed to unlock the door, but as it flew open, she said the student grabbed her by the arm and pulled her forcefully. 

Then, she thought she’d been sucker-punched. 

“It felt like the wind was knocked out of me,” she said. 

Moments later, Light recalls Rodgers clutching his stomach.

“He said, ‘My dear, he stabbed me.’” 

Only then did she realize she’d been stabbed too. 

Light credits one of her colleagues and two students with helping her and Rodgers control the bleeding until first responders arrived. 

She feels thankful to be alive, but said since then, her life hasn’t been the same.

“When I was wheeled out that morning on the stretcher, my career ended,” said Light. 

‘In survival mode’

For the past three years, Light said she’s been unable to work due to physical and psychological injuries caused by the attack, including complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

After the stabbing, she moved out of the Halifax area to a rural community in Cumberland County out of fear she might encounter her assailant on the streets. 

“I’ve literally been in survival mode since the incident,” she said. “I drive around with tinted windows on my car. I paid two fines to have those tinted windows because I don’t like the exposure of going out in a car.”

Along with the emotional trauma, Light said the incident has destroyed her financially.

Before the attack, she was working two full-time jobs — overnight in a group home for at-risk youth, followed by administrative work in the high school’s main office during the day. 

Now she relies on payments from the province’s Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB). 

Before the attack, she earned $81,208.58 annually between both jobs.

According to documents reviewed by CBC News, WCB says Light is entitled to $1,617.28 every two weeks, or $42,049.28 per year.

Financial struggles 

According to salary statements, Light’s employer, the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE), stopped contributing to her pension when she went off work. 

Her hourly wage has also been frozen since the attack, and she alleges HRCE is withholding wage increases she’s entitled to outlined in her union’s collective agreement. 

A spokesperson for HRCE declined an interview with CBC News and would not answer questions about whether these steps are protocol when an employee is on leave due to an injury on the job.

“All human resource situations are nuanced and confidential,” said spokesperson Lindsey Bunin in a statement.

“Additionally, we cannot provide comment as matters associated with the incident at Charles P. Allen are still before the courts,” Bunin added, referring to a lawsuit filed by Rodgers against HRCE, one of its security guards and the province. 

HRCE has said in court filings that Rodgers receives his full salary and medical benefits while he’s off work, but he and Light belong to different unions with different compensation structures.

HRCE has argued Rodgers has no right to sue his employer under a memorandum of understanding between the province’s Public School Administrators Association and Department of Education. 

Light said she’s received legal advice stating that a lawsuit against her employer would likely be unsuccessful for similar reasons. 

She said she’s exhausted her savings, struggles to keep up with bills and needed her parents to co-sign her new mortgage because workers’ compensation is not seen as reliable income.

“I feel like when you’re in your 20s and you’re robbing Peter to pay Paul,” she said. “I have to put food back in the grocery store. It’s embarrassing.”

During the criminal trial against her attacker, Light asked the Crown to apply for restitution — a court order requiring an offender to pay the victim for financial losses suffered because of their crime. 

But according to a letter addressed to Light from a chief Crown attorney, restitution was not sought in her case “based on the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) and experience from handling past cases.” 

“Right from Day 1 … the ball has been dropped on every level,” said Light.

On top of her concerns about wages and pension, Light said HRCE has refused to make accommodations so she can attempt to return to work. She said a work-from-home setup was proposed, but denied by her employer. 

She still doesn’t feel comfortable working in person with youth, so she wants to set up a side business selling sourdough bread. But any money made from that venture will be clawed back by the WCB. 

“They have me pigeonholed,” she said.

Workers’ compensation concerns

Light is also disappointed by how the board is handling coverage for her treatments.

Correspondence with a WCB caseworker from March shows Light expressing frustration after she went to a massage therapist but was refused treatment because it was not approved by the board.

She said she’s been putting chiropractic treatment through her personal insurance plan because that too has not yet been approved by the WCB. 

Moreover, her doctor recommended she see a specific therapist who specializes in mind-body connection — a different approach after years of participating in talk therapy.

But a WCB caseworker said in a correspondence dated Feb. 24 that it needs to be “an approved service provider,” in order for the board to cover it.

A spokesperson for WCB Nova Scotia declined an interview request, stating they cannot speak to individual claims even when a worker decides to speak publicly. 

“Speaking generally, when a worker requires support from a health professional, WCB provides access to services through an approved network of service providers, so that they can receive evidence-based treatments to help them recover,” wrote spokesperson Caitie Clark in an email. 

Clark could not say whether the board would make an exception for the therapist suggested by Light’s doctor, but said in general the WCB will “do [their] very best to secure an appropriate provider,” in an instance when no “suitable provider” is available in their approved network.

Sydnee Blum, executive director of the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre, said many of their clients express concerns with the WCB and the return-to-work process due to an injury or disability. 

The organization offers free legal services to non-union workers in Nova Scotia.

“The execution of the program [workers’ compensation] as it is right now is not trauma-informed at all,” said Blum in an interview. “Certainly a lot of people talk about how going through this process can be retraumatizing.

“Not only are you dealing with a horrible incident at work and then the loss of wages that comes with it, but then also you’re having to fight every step of the way against a system that wants you back at work as soon as possible and often wants to pay you as little as they can.” 

Blum said the group wants to see more accommodations and flexibility for injured workers as they return to work and the removal of approved service providers so workers can get medical care and treatment from people they know and trust. 

“The real gold standard is … a guarantee that if you’re injured at work, you are going to be taken care of and that it’s a low-barrier, easy-to-access program.” 

Light has also turned to the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) for help, but she said there’s been little progress there.

CBC News asked the union how it has been supporting Light, but a spokesperson said they cannot speak to individual situations in the media. 

NSGEU president Sandra Mullen wrote in an email: “The support and servicing of members is our top priority. The union has been a strong advocate and voice in the call for government to invest more to help make our schools safe.

“The union will always be there to provide supports and advocacy to our members.” 

Moving forward

For Light, the hoops she’s had to jump through since the attack are “salt on the wound.” 

Healing and moving forward for her means enjoying the outdoors, spending time with her pets and gardening. 

She eventually wants to work in some capacity, but doesn’t know what that looks like yet. 

For now, she continues to advocate for herself and the therapies she needs to recover.

Light is also in the early stages of writing a book about her story because she wants people to know how someone’s life can unravel when they’re the victim of a violent crime. 

“It’s not just the physical and mental wounds of that day,” she said.

“It’s the whole process you’re drug through afterwards … it’s insane.”

MORE TOP STORIES