John Willard was casually chatting with a colleague last August on a Castro sidewalk when it happened: a brutal and unprovoked blow to the side of his head. Everything went black, he heard yelling, and he braced himself against his bike to stay on his feet.
“I’m 190 pounds. I played hockey, I played football — I’ve been knocked out. And this was a very big punch,” said Willard, 45.
Whereas many would flee or respond with violence, Willard, a social worker, tried to talk to his assailant and de-escalate the situation. Even in his staggered state, he could recognize signs of psychosis in the person who’d punched him…