I was walking home from work at the end of a long day and suffered an unprovoked attack. A man had been walking down the street muttering to himself. I remember he was wearing headphones and I though he was singing along to some tunes.

As we got closer together, he kept looking at me, then away again like I had caught him out by noticing then he took a knife out of his pocket and just ran at me. I do not remember much after that.

Police and doctors told me that he had stabbed me twice in my stomach. My injuries needed surgery to repair the damage to my stomach and bowel. I also went on to develop a hernia from the injury that required a second surgery 6 months later.

I missed a long time off work, and a second period of time off after the second surgery. I also found it very difficult building up my confidence to just walk down that street again.

I made a claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and was awarded over £4000.