An Oklahoma bride-to-be was knocked out and hospitalized in an unprovoked attack while on her dream bachelorette trip in Texas — four weeks before her wedding day.
Canada Rinaldi, 27, was wrapping up a memorable night out in Dallas on Sunday when she and six bridesmaids left a club at around 2 a.m. and were waiting for their Uber, WFAA reported.
However, as their ride approached, a man came up from behind her and sucker-punched her in the face.
Rinaldi’s attacker struck her so hard that it knocked her out and caused her to face plant onto the concrete.
“It’s just shocking. It’s hard to believe,” a crying Rinaldi told the outlet. “I feel like a lot of my experiences were taken away from me.”
The assault was captured on dash camera video from an Uber driver and shows the attacker randomly striking Rinaldi.
The video also shows the moment one of her bridesmaids tried to push the man away before she was also punched by the brute.
The attacker then fled the scene, and Rinaldi was seen being surrounded by police and concerned friends while lying unconscious in the street.
“It’s just so traumatic,” Kelly Peralta, the bridesmaid who was also struck, told WFAA.
The bride-to-be said she regained consciousness while in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
The blindside attack broke nose Rinaldi’s nose and knocked out three of her teeth. She also suffered a concussion and a black eye, and needed eight stitches on her face.
Another of her bridesmaids who witnessed the attack, Kirsten McDowell, said the incident ruined a trip that was supposed to be one of the most joyous moments of her friend’s life.
“It’s really heartbreaking seeing her so upset, so injured. It was supposed to be one of the best trips of her life, celebrating her, for it to just go awry so fast,” McDowell told NBCDFW.
Rinaldi was four weeks out from her wedding when she was attacked and is now not only dealing with recovering from her injuries but also with the mounting medical bills from her ambulance ride, hospital stay, and dental repairs.
“I feel like I’m not excited to plan my wedding anymore,” Rinaldi told WFAA.
Her friends have set up a fundraiser to help Rinaldi with the unexpected medical bills of around $10,000.
“She is now trying to heal—not only physically, but emotionally and financially—when she should be counting down the days to her wedding,” McDowell wrote on the page.
The bride-to-be said the incident affected not only her but also her sisters — who witnessed her get hit and knocked unconscious.
“I know they’re struggling pretty bad, too,” Rinaldi said.
The Dallas Police Department said they are investigating the attack but have not yet made any arrests or identified the suspect.
“I think it’s not fair that it happened to me, but if anything, I hope he gets caught so it doesn’t happen to anybody else,” she said.
