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ST. LOUIS (KTVI) - A Vietnamese man who brought his family to St. Louis seeking the American dream is now in the middle of a nightmare. He’s hospitalized in the ICU in critical condition after being attacked. His stage 4 cancer is making it tougher for doctors to treat him.

Tyler is one of his three adult sons. He said, “I was horrified to see my dad lay there in blood.”

He said his 64-year-old father was waking down an alley near Ohio and Cherokee streets the suspect surprised the Vietnamese American and attacked him. Tyler said, “He just took his right arm and swung around hit my dad right in the nose and broke it and my dad fell back.”

Tyler’s brother David added, “A good portion of his facial is going to need to be reconstructed unfortunately with the complication of cancer were not be able to do all of it.”

Their father came to St. Louis with a dollar in his pocket. After years of hard work, he was able to open his own business in south city. David said, “I’d say he definitely has the American dream made.”

His father fell backward slamming his head on the concrete and apparently suffered a seizure. He bit his tongue in two. Police said the suspect stole the victim’s wallet. David said, “It broke my heart.”

Police believe the suspect is about 6ft. 2 thin, medium complexion, wearing a tan baseball hat, black long sleeve shirt, black pants and shoes. The lettering on his shirt appears to be a large “R.” Tyler said, “I want this person caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

The brothers said their father does not have the best of health insurance, a friend has started a Go Fund Me page for their dad. The brothers think this was an isolated incident, not racially motivated and not part of the knock out game.

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