.C. aid worker dies after Cambodia attack

A B.C. aid worker who was severely injured after being attacked in Cambodia last week has died from his injuries.

Jiri Zivny, 46, of Kamloops, B.C., died at 5:15 p.m. local time Thursday in Phnom Penh's Calmette hospital, where he was being treated for serious head injuries.

Zivny was attacked after he withdrew money from an ATM in Preah Sihanouk Province last Friday, about four hours south of Phnom Penh. He was reportedly clubbed in the head by assailants who stole his cash, his wallet, some of his clothes and left him for dead.

Zivny's medical insurance had expired and his death comes as his agency was trying to raise funds to bring him back to Canada for medical treatment -- a flight that could cost up to $20,000.

Friend and fellow aid worker Monty Aldoff says Zivny received a "substandard" level of medical care in the capital city's hospital.

"The conditions were deplorable," he told CTV News Thursday morning, his voice breaking. "It stunk and there were rats everywhere and it was just substandard. Unacceptable."

Aldoff, with help from the International Humanitarian Hope Society, the Kamloops, B.C. agency they worked with, brought in an American doctor to oversee Zivny's progress.

Zivny was in the country delivering supplies to Asian orphanages, as part of a trip organized by the B.C. charity. He had been travelling with other IHHS members in December, but had decided to extend his trip.

IHHS president Evelyn Picklyk told The Canadian Press that Zivny had a passion for his work with children.

"Every time we went to an orphanage, he was in tears," she said.

While Picklyk said aid workers generally travel in groups, she confirmed that Zivny had been travelling alone at the time that he was attacked.

According to the Canada Revenue Agency website, the IHHS falls under the "missionary organizations and propagation of gospel" category of charitable organizations. It has held charitable status since Jan. 1, 2007.