Sheila Nabb and her husband Andrew are shown in a family photo. The family of Ms. Nabb, a Calgary woman who was severely beaten in Mexico, says she is out of a medically induced coma.
A Calgary woman injured at a Mexican resort last month had "extensive reconstructive surgery" over the weekend and faces a long road to recovery, her husband says.
In his first statement since his wife Sheila's attack two weeks ago, Andrew Nabb says she is recovering since her Jan. 28 surgery and asked for continued prayers and "positive energy" from Canadians.
"Since this time she has spent a few days recovering in the Intensive Care Unit. Although she is still sedated, she has been very responsive and we are happy to see small improvements every day," he wrote in a statement released on his behalf by Alberta Health Services. "Sheila's injuries were very serious and she has a long recovery ahead, but we are looking forward to having her back home where she belongs."
He made no mention of the arrest in her case or the subsequent controversy - the accused, Jose Ramon Acosta Quintero, 28, gave a confession at a press conference after his arrest last weekend, then days later said police had forced him into a confession without letting him read it or talk to a lawyer.
Mr. Quintero maintains he assaulted Ms. Nabb early in the morning of Jan. 20, but says he never intended to kill her. He's been charged with attempted murder.
"I know that they [the authorities]need to clean up Mazatlan's image because it was a Canadian tourist, I understand that, but even if they charge me with a lesser offence [than attempted murder] they still clean up the image, they already have me in here," he said in a jailhouse interview with local newspaper Noroeste.
The accused said in his public confession that he had sneaked into the Hotel Riu Emerald Bay in Mazatlan and met Ms. Nabb, who he claimed was nude, in an elevator. He began talking to her, she tried to leave and he used his arm to block her, he said. She screamed and he hit her "four or five times."
The 37-year-old office manager, who was on vacation with her husband, was found soon after in the elevator. She was flown back to Canada last Friday. Her husband's statement on Thursday thanked the public for support in the high-profile case, and asked for privacy.
"I would like to thank Canadians from coast-to-coast for their concern and support, and ask that you continue to keep Sheila and our family in your prayers and continue sending us positive energy," he said.
With a report from The Canadian Press