The Trauma Beat - #4 - Vesna Cikovic

As a young boy, Boris Cikovic fled war-torn Bosnia with his mother for a safer life in Canada. As a teenager, he was fatally shot while hanging out with friends in a Toronto park. It was October 3, 2008. Boris was an only child.

“It’s not just a story,” Vesna Cikovic tells host Tamara Cherry in this conversation about the impact of the media after the death of her son. “I mean, it’s a big question of how that survivor is going to cope with life after this.”

Vesna speaks about the last hours of Boris’s life, the phone call she received from his friends saying Boris had been shot, and the experience of going to the hospital to identify his body. She recalls the media arriving at her home the following day and calling her at the funeral home, even though she wanted to be left alone. She also recalls one media outlet reiterating harmful comments from an investigator that implied Boris was to blame for his own homicide, and the harm that came from the language that was used to describe his son’s accused killer.

Vesna speaks about the “shell shock” she suffered in the immediate aftermath of Boris’s death, how this state of mind continued for several months, and the gaps in memory she continues to have from that time. She also reflects on the conundrum of journalists needing to speak with survivors in order to tell their story, and the importance of many survivors being left alone.

Vesna speaks about the problem of parents constantly having to defend their murdered children by describing them as “good” kids. She also discusses the positive impacts the media had on her, including the support she received from various journalists who followed the case through the criminal justice system. “At least somebody was listening,” she says.

As per trauma-informed practice, each guest in The Trauma Beat podcast is afforded the opportunity to review and veto a list of anticipated questions before the recorded conversation. Ongoing, informed consent is sought throughout the production process.

This conversation was recorded in March 2022.

For more trauma-informed journalism resources, visit pickupcommunications.com.

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