Knife attacker victims suffer horrific injuries
THESE are some of the shocking injuries suffered by two young friends after they fought off a knifeman in a Stockport wood.
The victims, who were 17 and 20 at the time, were repeatedly stabbed by Joshua Hallows in a random, broad daylight attack last September.
Last week Hallows pleaded guilty to two counts of wounding with intent and one count of possessing a knife in connection with the attack in Offerton on September 1 .
The 22-year-old, of Warren Road, Cale Green, Stockport, who is currently undergoing psychiatric assessment in a secure hospital, was remanded in custody to be sentenced on September 14.
Both victims, who asked only to be referred by their first names Bradley and Zaak, have since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Bradley, now 21, was stabbed three times in the shoulder and wrist, and repeatedly slashed across his hands and fingers.
He needed 72 stitches and underwent a six-anda half-hour emergency operation at Wythenshawe hospital.
He’ll never regain full movement in his right hand.
Zaak, now 18, needed five stitches after being stabbed in the neck.
The unprovoked attack took place in a den in the woods off the Fairway where the friends regularly hung out.
They had never seen Hallows before.
Hallows walked up to the two lads and briefly spoke to them before launching the terrifying assault.
After stabbing Zaak in the neck, Hallows twice stabbed Bradley in his shoulder, before pinning him to the ground.
As the pair fought him off, Bradley’s hands and fingers were slashed to the bone, causing severe muscle damage.
Bradley said: “The whole thing lasted less than two minutes.
“He went for Zaak first. My only reaction was to try get the knife off him. I was fighting with him, rolling around on the floor.
“I was on my back, he was on top of me trying to get at me. I had my hands up
“He was trying to push the knife into my throat. I was shouting Zaak. Zaak stopped him from hurting me, then we just ran off.”
Badly injured, Bradley kept collapsing, but Zaak dragged him to a nearby friend’s house, where paramedics were called.
Bradley believes Zaak’s actions helped save his life.
Nine months on from the attack both friends still suffer nightmares and are nervous about going out in public.
Bradley said: “100 per cent he was trying to kill me. I think I’ve blanked some of it. The whole thing happened so fast.
“Now we both only go out with each other and we only go to places where there are lots of people.
“We try to talk about it a lot, we try to have a laugh about it, so it doesn’t seem as bad.
“But I don’t sleep much. It was like something off the television rather than real life. It was unimaginable.”
Zaak said: “I was just in shock.
“It’s hard to get over how something like that can happen and the possibility of it happening to you.”
“100 per cent he was trying to kill me. I think I’ve blanked some of it”