WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg man who was in a coma for a month after being assaulted is suing Manitoba’s public guardian after waking up to find everything he owned was gone.

Marcel Blanchette, who is 52, has filed a statement of claim against the government agency for $93,778, alleging it gave control and ownership of his personal possessions to his landlord, who he alleges gave them to a charity and were sold.

The public guardian and trustee says in statement of defence it exercised care, skill and prudence in making the decision which was reasonable under the circumstances.

Blanchette, who worked as a computer programmer, says he doesn’t remember the attack in December 2014 which left him with a fractured skull, a broken nose, orbital fractures, and bleeding in the brain.

He was put into an induced coma for one month at Health Sciences Centre, and spent three months in intensive care, and when he woke up he found out what happened to his belongings.

Blanchette alleges furniture, artwork, his birth certificate, bank cards and credit cards were missing when he was discharged from hospital.

“Everything that I had in life was gone,” said Blanchette. “My step-family had come in from Saskatchewan and they helped with getting an email address and explained to me what had occurred.”

“I felt destroyed. It’s emotional, it’s difficult to think about what occurred.”

Control of Blanchette’s affairs were transferred to province’s public guardian between Jan. 12, 2015 until Feb. 8, 2016 because he didn’t have a power of attorney.

On its website, the agency says it “manages and protects the affairs of Manitobans who are unable to do so themselves and have no one else willing or able to act.”

The public guardian said in its statement of defence that it “considered the costs to vacate Mr. Blanchette’s apartment, the cost of monthly storage charges and the concern that 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 deal with by his former landlord.”

“Given the financial circumstances of Marcel Blanchette, the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba had to make decisions as to how to utilize his limited financial resources to address his circumstances, as the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba knew them, at that time.”

Blanchette says he hasn’t fully recovered from the attack.

He spends two hours each day working out and is taking courses at Red River College in hopes of going back to work as a computer programmer.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.

Blanchette said the case will be back in court later this month.

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