Ciren man recovers from knife attack

5:00pm Wednesday 21st May 2008

A CIRENCESTER man is recovering after having his thumb severed and his face slashed as he tried to fight off a vicious knife attack.

Chris Smith, 24, was left with a six-inch scar across his face after the apparently random attack on Watermoor Road at 4am on Sunday.

He had been dropped off in a taxi after a night out when he was approached by a knife-wielding man by the Hong Kong Chinese take-away.

Chris, who lives in Watermoor, said his attacker pressed a large hunting-style knife against his throat and as he fought him off he was slashed down the left side of his face leaving a six-inch cut from his eye to his throat.

He said the man then tried to stab him in the chest and as he tried to fend off the blow his thumb was severed.

He ran to a nearby friend's house and collapsed at the doorway in a pool of blood.

He said: "I was in absolute agony and there was blood spurting out everywhere but I managed to make it to my friend's house.

"He did not say anything to me at all. It was so quick and the knife was very sharp. I was lucky I managed to run away."

Chris spent two days at Cheltenham General Hospital where his thumb was reattached but has been told he will never have any feeling in his thumb.

He said: "I was just about to become a self-employed plasterer but now I don't know whether I will be able to do that. I feel so angry that this has happened."

A 28-year-old man from Cirencester has been arrested in connection with the incident.

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