Soon after Marcel Blanchette woke from a month-long coma following a brutal assault that left him with a cracked skull, a broken nose, orbital fractures, and blood on his brain, he was told that everything he had to his name was gone.

The 52-year-old Winnipeg man alleges the conduct of the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba literally left him with nothing. Not a single stick of furniture in his rented apartment, no personal effects, photos, or identification. Even his life's savings were liquidated, he says.

Blanchette has filed a statement of claim against the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba for $93,778, alleging it gave control and ownership of his personal possessions to his landlord, which Blanchette claims were then given to a charity and sold.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

“I felt destroyed,” he told CTV Winnipeg. “It’s almost like by doing what they did they basically wiped out my existence.”

In December 2014, an unprovoked assault in a downtown Winnipeg apartment left Blanchette badly injured. He was put into an induced coma for one month at Health Sciences Centre, and spent three months in intensive care.

His attacker, Sherman Kang, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and is serving a five-year prison sentence.

Blanchette said he does not remember anything about the attack, only waking up in hospital and being told that everything he owned was gone.

His affairs were transferred to the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba between Jan. 12, 2015 until Feb. 8, 2016.

Blanchette said he did not have a power of attorney set up to transfer legal authorization, and his step-family was not made aware of his condition immediately after the assault. The government agency took control because there was no one else to act on his behalf.

For its part, the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba has said it did nothing wrong. In a statement of defence, the agency said Blanchette had “limited financial resources” to address the costs associated with vacating his apartment and paying to store his belongings, and noted “the sale proceeds of used furniture and other items are usually modest.”

“As it was not clear what Mr. Blanchette’s expense and other financial needs would be in the foreseeable future nor was it known when, if or under what conditions he would return to the community, the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba made the decision to leave Marcel Blanchette’s property in his suite to be dealt with by his former landlord,” the agency said in a defence statement.

“They made no attempt at all to go through my things to keep anything personal, like my papers for my taxes,” Blanchette said. “Even my personal identification, like my birth certificate and my bank cards. I had funds in my RRSP, which they cashed in.”

A prized piece of the Berlin Wall and a gift from a friend who died of HIV-AIDS in 1997 were among the irreplaceable items Blanchette claims were lost.

“It’s emotional. It’s difficult to think about what occurred. I can’t put it into words,” he said.

Blanchette has suspicions that his case was not handled honestly. He said he has not been able to obtain any receipts or records for what was sold or donated, and the situation is further complicated because the individual in charge of his file immediately following his assault is no longer employed as a trustee.

“What I was told is they sold it all by weight to Value Village,” he said. “If my belonging were going to charity and being sold, then where is the receipt of charitable donation?”

Blanchette claims he declined an offer of $3,700 to “sign off and walk away from this.” He said the case will be back in court later this month.

The former computer programmer is still recovering from the attack. He is taking computer science courses at Red River College to upgrade his skills while he works to rebuild his life.

As he continues to search for answers about what happened while he was in the coma, he said one thing has become abundantly clear to him -- the importance of appointing a power of attorney.

“I feel like I am being punished for not having that in place,” he said.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s Josh Crabb