“I was stabbed,” I said, and my voice sounded breathy.

February 14, 2020 10:50 AM

The first thing people usually want to know is what getting stabbed feels like. The answer is that it feels like getting punched really hard. Or at least, I assume it’s what getting hit feels like. I’ve never been punched. I have been stabbed six times. (content warning: pictures of blood and stitched-up wounds)
posted by Etrigan (17 comments total)

I had a two inch scalpel incision made in my body without anaesthesia. I have always assume that getting stabbed feels a lot like that. Which is to say, like, JESUS FUCKING OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW FUCK OWWWWWW.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:24 AM on February 14, 2020 [5 favorites]

Wow, what a story! I’m glad they caught him. I’m glad she’s okay. I’m hugging my dog right now.
posted by valkane at 11:45 AM on February 14, 2020 [2 favorites]

I really enjoyed this (I mean, not in like a serial killer way). It wasn't melodramatic but you could tell it was helping her process things and it was interesting.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 11:59 AM on February 14, 2020 [1 favorite]

in case any one is worried, the dog is fine, does not get injured at all.

that's a crazy story!! such random aggression but also so many kind people helping and supporting her. I kinda feel like she should keep the scars. she is a bad ass and a survivor!
posted by supermedusa at 12:09 PM on February 14, 2020 [5 favorites]

I don’t know why my eyes welled up after she said they’d caught the guy, but I am so glad they did. What a horrible and random thing to happen. Also that last photo is so cute. Her dog is such a sweet pup.
posted by 41swans at 12:13 PM on February 14, 2020 [3 favorites]

An ex of mine stabbed me in the upper left arm. With a razor sharp knife that I got her to protect herself. I felt nothing. I eventually realized what had happened when I felt blood dripping off of my left hand. The wound was maybe an inch and a half deep. According to the angiogram the blade had just missed the brachial nerve. Had it been cut I would have lost the use of my arm from the shoulder down.
posted by Splunge at 12:16 PM on February 14, 2020 [5 favorites]

Sounds about right.

I've been stabbed twice. One in the back right below my left kidney and just thought I'd been punched. It was during a brief chaotic melee in a dark rock club doorway. So I didn't even know. I thought the wetness was sweat. Took off my leather jacket about fifteen minutes later at home. Felt dizzy. And my girlfriend at the time saw my t-shirt soaked in blood and went "Holy SHIT!" Found out later about four or five other people got cut or stabbed. Never found out who did it.
posted by Everyone Expects The Spanish Influenza at 12:26 PM on February 14, 2020 [11 favorites]

Good dog.
posted by Halloween Jack at 1:48 PM on February 14, 2020 [2 favorites]

Danny Butterman: What was it like bein' stabbed?
Nicholas Angel: It was the single most painful experience of my life.
Danny Butterman: What was the second most painful?
posted by biffa at 2:57 PM on February 14, 2020 [1 favorite]

I am very glad she is okay. She is an amazing writer. The “medical debt should not be a thing” line speaks volumes.

Stories like this also make me viscerally angry at how the US chooses to deliver health care, and at the portion of the populace that is fine with the status quo.
posted by FallibleHuman at 5:18 PM on February 14, 2020 [11 favorites]

I know it's irrational but the part that stays with me with stories like these is that there's no explanation. I know that's super-shallow (though she does mention it too), but she compares it to a natural disaster, which is a different thing, to me. I don't get too worked up about natural disasters (in the theoretical, of course) because they don't have motives. Shit happens. But when a person attacks another person, a stranger, I want to know why. And we'll never know.
posted by tzikeh at 5:23 PM on February 14, 2020 [5 favorites]

You’re right that we’ll never know but I’m guessing it was a precursor to raping her. And it’s horrible that I think that but it’s pretty rare that a random man attacks a woman violently and it doesn’t end in rape or isn’t about rape, I just think she fought hard enough that he had to rethink his strategy and she made it not worth his while. She’s my new hero.
posted by Jubey at 5:40 PM on February 14, 2020 [6 favorites]

You’re right that we’ll never know but I’m guessing it was a precursor to raping her.

She mentions the woman who found her on the path, and a few other passers by, and I wonder if they hadn't been there if she'd been killed outright.
posted by Jilder at 2:20 AM on February 15, 2020

Its a great article & wonderfully written given the level of trauma involved. This type of random violence is definitely a rarity in NZ - tends to make it all the more shocking when it does occur.
Having said that, a friend of mine was stabbed to death in Wellington a few years ago - completely different circumstances though.
posted by phigmov at 1:03 PM on February 15, 2020

Random attack, horrifically violent and bloody, in a public space, in broad daylight. Yep, it checks every box on my reasons to never leave my house list.
posted by Beholder at 1:23 PM on February 15, 2020

I appreciate the writing style: not pretentious or navel gazing; instead it's first person reporting that somehow, casually draws the reader into her shoes. I was holding my breath by the end and it wasn't written suspensefully or sensationally.
posted by mightshould at 3:11 AM on February 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

when i was 20 i was in ireland studying abroad and one of my friends got a very bad head wound from falling drunk on the sidewalk. we didn't take her to the hospital because we had no idea that they would give us health care for free, especially as americans. i think of that every time i read a story of an american being treated, extensively, for free in another country.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 12:36 PM on February 17, 2020 [1 favorite]