'It doesn't feel like we're any closer to justice'

Tom Savage had to have surgery at the end of his hospital stay to remove his sinus

“It doesn’t feel like we’re any closer to having justice or an answer,” said Tom Savage, who was stabbed 20 times in east London.

He is hoping the Metropolitan Police will catch the person behind an attack, which happened on the evening of 19 August.

The 36-year-old was walking his dog in Mirabelle Gardens, Stratford, when he was attacked and left with life-altering injuries which have affected his ability to walk and his vision.

The Metropolitan Police told the Local Democracy Reporting Service it was continuing to investigate the “horrific assault”.

'Blunt instrument'

Mr Savage also lost all sense of taste and smell and lost feeling in parts of his body as a result of what has been described as the "unprovoked" attack.

He said he had finished walking through Mirabelle Gardens when he saw a man in the distance who was walking up from the bottom of the park.

Before he knew it, the man was “right in front of [his] face” and was walking quickly towards him, kicking the gravel-covered ground in his direction, Mr Savage said.

He said the man asked him if he lived in the area and when he answered, the man said: “I don’t like you very much.”

He then lifted his shirt up and Mr Savage saw “what looked like the handle end of a screwdriver".

Mr Savage said: “I can only imagine it was a sharpened blade essentially like a blunt instrument.

“I was quite lucky it wasn’t a knife really, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was but I never saw the full thing.

"I knew as soon as I saw him lift his shirt up and saw it, I knew exactly what was coming because he looked angry – he didn’t really blink at all and from what I could see in the 10 seconds we were talking if that, I knew I was in trouble.”

Mr Savage said he lost all feeling from his chest down after he was stabbed in the spine

Mr Savage said he ran towards the nearest road and sent his dog running in the opposite direction.

“I didn’t get very far before this guy knocked me over,” Mr Savage said. “I felt a smack in the back of my head and from that point on I don’t remember feeling any pain from the whole thing – I felt numb.

"I managed to shout for help a couple of times, but then the next thing I know he threw me on the floor – I lost all feeling from my chest down and I think that’s probably when he stabbed me in the spine.

"That was the point where it was over for me.

"I was laying on my side and at that point I couldn’t really move."

Mr Savage said he is afraid to go outside on his own now

The last memory Mr Savage had was of paramedics cutting his jeans off in an ambulance before later waking up in a hospital trauma unit.

He is now continuing his recovery at home and is working on gaining weight and building muscle after losing two stone while in hospital.

Doctors have told Mr Savage it could take up to two years to recover from his injuries. It is not certain which will heal completely and which will remain.

“My goals short-term are just to be able to walk outside for longer and eventually be able to walk the dog again before Christmas," he said.

'Quite anxious'

Mr Savage was told by people who helped him that his attacker ran back to the scene to grab his beanie hat but he then disappeared.

Mr Savage's jacket and shirt, along with his keys, were found around a mile from where he was attacked.

The Met Police said it was "examining every avenue of opportunity" to find those responsible.

But the thought of his attacker still being out there has left Mr Savage afraid to go outside on his own.

He said: “I’m quite anxious, it doesn’t feel like we’re any closer to having justice or an answer."

Nate Higgins, Green Party councillor for Stratford Olympic Park, said he was "devastated" by the attack on Mr Savage and had "been in regular contact" to offer support.

Uma Kumaran, Labour MP for Stratford and Bow, said: “Everyone should be able to feel safe and be safe near their homes, and I know that the whole community in East Village is still reeling from the shocking nature of this attack and the fact the attacker remains at large and unpunished.”