PRINCE ALBERT -- Ryan John is still recovering from having a four-inch hunting knife plunged into his head by a stranger while picking up his order at Boston Pizza in Prince Albert on Oct. 14, 2020.

“He stabbed me once in the back right here ... the tip of the blade touched the other side of my head it went so far in.”

John was stabbed twice in the skull. During the attack he says he heard his attacker call him a “snitch.”

“I looked down at myself and I’m just spraying blood.”

A restaurant employee intervened and the attacker fled the scene.

Prince Albert police found the suspect, 19-year-old Trent Fox, moments later near the restaurant.

Fox was charged with attempted murder but pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. He was sentenced to four years in prison on July 8 in Prince Albert Provincial Court.

John says he wondered why the attack happened.

“I did not ask for this at all, he didn’t know me and I didn’t know him,” John said.

I DON’T REALLY FEAR DEATH

Doctors say John lost about 10 bags of blood and was close to death.

John was transported to Victoria Hospital and then airlifted in a STARS helicopter to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon.

“And I thought I don’t want my mother to worry and the last thing I would want for her is to wake up and get that call about what happened,” he said.

John suffered an intracranial brain hemorrhage and was put into an induced coma so physicians could treat his injuries.

He was 21-years-old at the time of the attack. His mother, Michelle Hunt, was told by doctors the part of his brain responsible for mobility and sight was severed and he may be blind and never walk again.

Hunt had to make the decision to allow doctors to perform a high-risk surgery to try to repair his brain.

Part of John’s skull was removed and his body could have rejected the reinsertion of part of his skull.

John was in a coma for 13 days but woke up and today is on the road to recovery.

“They couldn’t believe that Ryan was alive and first of all that he could see and that he got up out of the bed and was walking and talking,” said Hunt.

John says he had a near death experience.

“The feeling of death was probably the most peaceful feeling you’ll ever get. I don’t really fear death after what happened.”

Hunt says her son’s life was just beginning and the attack has left him lifelong physical and emotional scars. She’s happy he’s alive to share his story.

“I keep an eye on Ryan closely,” said Hunt. “He has the most positive attitude ever. He’s out an about in Prince Albert again, and if you see him, just say hi to him.”