The victim of a brutal stabbing says his attackers were set on murdering a random victim and only luck saved his life.
Police have launched an appeal for information three weeks after the 26-year-old apprentice labourer suffered multiple stab wounds in the side, back and stomach in Selwyn Avenue, Highams Park.
The father, who wishes to remain anonymous for his safety, said after the 8pm attack he was unable to phone 999 because his iPhone was unusable as it was covered in blood and his attackers made no attempt to rob him.
“It’s like they said ‘we’re going to kill someone tonight, we don’t care who it is',"he said.
“They tried to kill me for no reason at all.”
He suffered a knife wound to a major artery in his back, but managed to make home.
He was then taken to Whipps Cross Hospital for emergency surgery and moved to the Royal London in Whitechapel on the same night for a second operation.
Hospital staff told his wife they were unlikely to be able to save him, but he recovered after spending two days on a life support machine and four days in a coma.
Police say the attack on September 25 was carried out by five hooded teenagers or young adults.
But the victim said police made the incident sound like a confrontation between “street guys”.
“I’m a young, married man and a new father. I go to work every day,” he said.
"If police had used more detail in their appeal it would have drawn more attention to the case and done a better job at bringing them to justice."
He said his wounds have left him unable to hold his five-month-old daughter and unable to work.
He now believes he and his family will be forced to move.
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