More than $40,000 raised for Hamilton teen beaten with bat

A gofundme page has raised more than $40,000 for a Hamilton teen who was beaten with a baseball bat by two men while walking home from his friend’s house.

Noah Rabbani, 15, continues to recover in the intensive care unit after having surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain. He suffered extensive injuries to his head, jaw, and spine in the attack. His family says he still does not have full movement on the right side of his body.

A post on the gofundme page says, “Noah’s doctors indicate that his recovery will be a long process, and he will require extensive dental surgery, physiotherapy, learning aids, house aids, tutoring, etc. Many of these expenses are not covered by OHIP and his family will have to pay out of pocket.”

The initial fundraising goal was $30,000 but that was exceeded after just one day. Noah’s father expressed his gratitude in a post saying “I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for there donation and beautiful words. I can’t stop the tears from flowing. May God bless you all.”

Rabbani’s family fears the Canadian-Pakistani teen may have been the victim of a hate crime but his father hopes that is not the case.

“I hope it’s not a racism thing, it could be a random attack,” said Khalid Rabbani. “I hope it was just a random attack and not a racist attack at all.”

Hamilton police are still investigating and are asking anyone with information about the attack to contact them.