Dad stabbed in street and left for dead says he ‘owes life’ to nurse who was filmed saving him
A PLUMBER who was stabbed in the street has thanked the off-duty nurse who saved his life and said: "She was my guardian angel".
Edmund Sinanaj, 41, said he sustained at least eight stab wounds when he was attacked while out with his fiancée and their four-month-old daughter.
Miraculously surgical nurse Abigail Bamber, 26, was driving past and pulled over when she saw him stumbling across the road.
As he fell to the floor she began CPR and the father-of-two said he remembers waking up with a "girl hitting me in the chest".
At the time, Abigail, a nurse on a surgical ward at Bristol's Southmead Hospital, dismissed suggestions she was a hero and said she "just went into nurse mode".
But speaking for the first time, Mr Sinanaj said he owed his life to the young nurse.
Speaking from his home in Bristol, he told The Sun Online: "I just remember seeing black and I remember telling myself that if I collapse I'll be gone.
"I remember walking maybe 20 yards or so and that's when I must've blacked out and hit the floor.
"The next thing I remember was seeing a girl hitting me in the chest. I remember her shouting 'Come on wake up, wake up'.
"I would say for a good few minutes I was dead. When I woke up I was freezing. I couldn't move, and I just felt like going to sleep.
"I then saw my missus and my baby and that's when I just gave them a thumbs up even though I had just been through one of the worst experiences of my life.
"My little family pulled me through. I kept fighting for my family.
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"After that I was taken to hospital and I can't remember anything until two days later when I woke up on the Wednesday with doctors all around me.
"I was on life support for three days and I had a blood transfusion among multiple operations. I didn't even know where I was."
He went on: "The incident has changed my life massively. It's made me realise the value of life more.
"Life really is too short and I'm going to make sure I keep making my family happy and I'm so glad that I'm alive to be able to do that.
"It's made me a stronger person and I appreciate life a lot more than I used to.
"I haven't spoken to the nurse yet, but I want to more than anything in the world. She is my hero. She saved my life.
"I can't wait to meet her, she was my guardian angel. She has rescued this family.
"It's very difficult to describe in words just how thankful I am to her. Without her I wouldn't be here. No chance. It's as simple as that.
"When I see her I have no idea what to say to her. I'm asking friends and family what I should say or buy her. What do you say to a person that saved your life? There are no words to describe it.
"It's amazing that a girl who had just turned 26 had the guts to be able to do something like she did.
"She is amazing. She is an angel. What can I say? I thank her from the bottom of my heart.
"She's my hero it's as simple as that. She didn't doing it for fame, she didn't do it for herself, she did it from the kindness of her own heart.
"There was lots of people around who saw what happened, but she was the first to step in.
"It's not often someone will do something for someone they don't know. She did."
Edmund came to the UK from Albania 16 years ago to find a better quality of life.
He is engaged to partner of two years Mimoza Doda , 26, from Greece, and they have a four-month-old daughter Ayra Sinanaj.
The self-employed plumber has another child with a previous partner.
Edmund was attacked in broad daylight, in Easton, Bristol, on May 15.
Onlookers filmed Abigail battling to save his life for around five minutes, as he was covered in blood and gasping for breath, and the clip went viral.
People heaped praise on "heroic" Abigail, who was eventually identified as the mystery Good Samaritan.
Speaking at the time, she said: "I think most nurses go into nursing because it is a vocation - not a job.
"When things like that happen, you immediately go into nurse mode.
"I can't speak for everyone, but I think you are a nurse, or you are not.
"I like to think it just comes a bit naturally in a way.
"I didn't look at it as I was being a hero. I just saw a man needed my help.
"If he was on my ward I would do the exact same thing for him.
"I was in nurse mode. I don't think you ever shut that off."
Albanian national Kozma Dhaskali, 32, denied attempted murder when he appeared at Bristol Magistrates' Court on May 18.
In a statement last week the nurse said: "I am pleased that Edmund is making a good recovery after his ordeal.
"It’s very kind of him to thank me, but I was only doing what came naturally as a nurse. I hope he continues to make good progress.”
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