LOWELL, Mass. — A nurse who suffered a serious brain injury after being attacked by a patient on the job celebrated a victory in court Tuesday as her attacker was found guilty of assault charges and received a two-year suspended sentence.
Jean Paul Durand, a 65-year-old homeless psychiatric patient at Lowell General Hospital’s Saints campus at the time of the 2021 attack, was found guilty of two assault charges for beating then-emergency room nurse Grace Rabickow in the head with a fire extinguisher.
Durand, who was found not guilty of several other charges for lack of criminal responsibility, has already served time at Bridgewater State Hospital.
Terms of his probation require him to continue his mental health treatment and stay away from Rabickow. A violation could result in jail time.
Hospital security video shows Durand attack Rabickow from behind while she was seated at her computer station, smashing her over the head twice before chasing another nurse with the weapon.
Rabickow, who was treated in the ICU for a skull fracture and brain bleed, waited 3.5 years for justice. She called the judge’s verdict “closure.”
“It’s a little bit bittersweet,” Rabickow said. “It’s something that I live through every day. And having to come face to face with someone that hurt me, it was hard and a little bit heartbreaking. But at the end of the day, we got kind of the verdict we were all hoping and praying for.”
Rabickow, who delivered an emotional victim impact statement, has physically recovered but is still mentally healing, experiencing depression and anxiety, often reliving the trauma.
“Every day, I deal with it,” Rabickow said. “Some way or another, I am reminded of it, or I have flashbacks of it.”
Prior to Tuesday’s bench trial, Rabickow had feared Durand’s charges would be dropped after he was initially found incompetent to stand trial.
“I dealt with mental illness and psychiatric patients for a very long time in the emergency room. I understand it,” Rabickow said. “I understand we should give him some grace in the matter of the fact. However, what he did, you should still be held accountable for.”
While she was conflicted about Durand receiving probation instead of jail time, Rabickow believes the guilty verdict sends a message that the daily violence against healthcare workers is unacceptable.
“We didn’t sign up to get assaulted,” Rabickow said. “I really do hope that this sets an example for people that you can’t do these things to healthcare workers. You can’t just do that and expect nothing to come out of it, because your actions have to be held accountable.”
After the attack, Rabickow could not endure working in the ER again. But ever committed to helping people, she continues to work as a nurse in Boston.
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