A gay University of California, Berkeley professor has opened up about his terrifying experience being assaulted at San Francisco Pride while being ignored by partygoers and firefighters.

Recounting the story to the San Francisco Chronicle, Damon Young said he had separated from his boyfriend and group of friends to take his dog home when someone standing with a group of young people tapped him on the shoulder and accused the dog of peeing on his shoe. Young knew that didn’t happen, and it quickly became clear it was a setup so the leader of the group could attack him.

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Young said that the leader punched him over and over again while he screamed for help in broad daylight. “I was feeling the repeated blows in that same spot and thinking, ‘Am I going to die?’” he said. “Every blow felt like it was doing more damage.”

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Young had fallen to the ground during the scuffle, and when the perpetrator eventually decided to stop and walk away, he discovered he had landed on the picnic blanket of another group of people. The people asked him if he was okay, but they seemed oddly unfazed by the incident. No one offered to help him find medical care or call the police.

As he left the park in search of help, he also found a group of firefighters and asked for help. He said one “looked at me like I was crazy or high, and he didn’t want to be bothered.”

After being repeatedly told he had to find an officer for help, he decided to just drive home. He reunited with his boyfriend, who took him to the hospital. Young found out he’d endured soft tissue damage to his jaw and also had a concussion.

Police are now investigating the attack and have not yet determined if it was hate-motivated, though Young made it clear the attackers had no interest in his belongings and made no attempt to rob him. Young also filed a complaint with the fire department about their behavior at the event.

The entire experience has rocked him to the core, he said.

“That feeling of being so alone has shaken some basic confidence I had in what it means to exist physically in the world.”

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