Cash for Taser video will pay for father's medical treatment: Pritchard

The man who filmed the last minutes of Robert Dziekanski's life is going to use the money he made from sellinghis videoto pay for his father'smedical care.

Paul Pritchard has been the focus of intense police and media attention since Oct. 14, when he recorded police stunning Dziekanski with Taser shots at Vancouver International Airport.

On Wednesday, when Pritchard released the video, he received a payment of several thousand dollars from three television stations: CBC, CTV and Global television.

Pritchardsaid he plans to use the money to improve another person's quality of life.

On the night Pritchard shot the video, he was on his way home from China to deal with a family emergency in Victoria.

It had been 18 months since he'd seen hisfather, John, whohas a serious illness.

Since that night in mid-October, life has been a whirlwind for Pritchard.

After giving police his footage of the Tasering, he had to hire a lawyer, hold anews conference and threaten court action to get it back.

Pritchard has been too busy to work, and that's why he says he made the decision to sell his footage to the three Vancouver newsrooms, including the CBC.

Pritchard has told CBC News he'll now use the money to bring comfort to his sick father.

"There's medication we need to get. There's equipment, some sleeping equipment that unfortunately we just didn't have the money to do,"he said.

Pritchard's father was concerned about what people might say if Pritchard took cash for the video,he said, but he did it anyway to help his father.

"It was against his wishes completely and my lawyer's wishes as well. Profit is such an ugly word, and I hope people realize that it's not a personal profit."

Now that the video has been made public, Pritchard said he is keen to step out of the media spotlight and find a job.

He said it's time to focus the attention on the sad story of the Polish immigrant who lost his life and the factors that caused the death.