Christina Forde, left, and Shawn Ferguson with Everything Organized help unload two trailers full of donated items at Value Village in Kamloops, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016.

(ASHLEY LEGASSIC / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - For nearly four months, Jessie Simpson, 19, has been in a medically induced coma after he was allegedly attacked with a baseball bat on his way to a friend's home in Kamloops.

Simpson family friend Christina Forde has been thinking of ways to help out his family ever since. Along with creating a GoFundMe campaign to assist with medical costs — which has raised about $11,000 so far — she came up with an idea to give back to the people Kamloops while helping Simpson's family at the same time.

Forde asked residents to round up anything they didn't use like dishes, winter gear, blankets and clothes. Forde spent four or five days a week for the past six weeks picking up those secondhand items.

She arrived at the Value Village today, Oct. 5, with two trailers full of secondhand items. Once everything is weighed, the company will pay her and that money will go to Simpson's family members to help pay for their travel expenses as the visit Simpson in hospital and attend court hearings for the case.

Simpson's mom has been by his bedside at Royal Inland Hospital since he arrived by amublance on June 19. She's "under the weather" and couldn't make it to the drop-off at Value Village today, but that won't stop her from seeing her son, Forde says.

"I don't think anything will hold her back from seeing Jessie," she says.

Simpson is still in a medically-induced coma awaiting more surgeries and Forde says she hasn't seen any signs of brain function from him. But compared to when he was first brought into hospital, his appearance has improved dramatically. She says he is finally starting to look like he did before he was assaulted.

ARRAIGNMENT HEARING FOR THE ACCUSED

Kristopher Teichrieb, 39, is charged with attempted murder in connection to the assault and is expected to appear in Kamloops provincial court next week for an arraignment hearing, which is typically when the accused enters a plea.

Simpson was 18-years-old at the time of the assault. Friends and family say he was leaving a high school graduation party that night and looking for a friend's house when he ended up on Teichrieb's property in Brocklehurst.

Teichrieb was denied bail by a provincial court judge in July and has changed legal counsel since then. The details of the bail hearing cannot be published due to a court ordered publication ban. Friends and family of Simpson who have attended the court hearings have expressed frustration about the delays and adjournments.

For more of our coverage on this story, go here.

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News from © iNFOnews, 2016