I forgive the man who dragged me from my home and stabbed me 9 times – I just feel lucky to be alive
A DOCTOR who was stabbed nine times in a random attack has said he forgives the man who was convicted of trying to kill him.
Dr Adam Towler is lucky to be alive after one of the many blows rained down by then 17-year-old Chanz Maximen missed his heart by 2cm.
Former trauma specialist Dr Towler told how he initially thought it was a Halloween prank when Maximen shone a torch through the letterbox of his Bristol home in October 2019.
When he opened his front door he was hauled from his home and stabbed repeatedly.
During the attack, Maximen also screamed: "You killed the girl," a phrase that he has never explained and meant nothing to the victim or detectives.
After Maximen initially fled the scene, the doc, 52, managed to crawl back inside and call the cops.
In a chilling recording of the 999 call, Maximen can be heard trying to get back in as he flings himself against Dr Towler's front door.
Police were able to chase down the teenager and arrested him at Clifton Down train station.
Maximen was jailed for life at Bristol Crown Court this week for the attack on the doctor and two others.
He also stabbed a man walking home from a night shift and attempted to break into a woman's home.
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Maximen denied the attempted murder of Dr Towler, grievous bodily harm with intent of the night shift worker and two counts of possession of a knife but was convicted after a trial last December.
He admitted a lesser charge of wounding.
Maximen was cleared of the aggravated burglary of the woman's home, although Judge William Hart said he was "quite satisfied" he was the individual who had forced his way in.
As he was sentenced, the judge told Maximen: "There is no logical explanation for any of your offending other than that you are a highly dangerous young man with a wholly distorted view of life and
appropriate conduct.
"It is not due to any recognised mental illness or diagnosed personality disorder."
In a victim impact statement Dr Towler - who now develops medical software - expressed his concern for the now 19-year-old and his future, and the fact he would spend so long in prison.
He said: "To begin, I want to say that I am not upset or angry with you."
Describing a holiday he took in the aftermath of the attack, he said: "Amid all the great experiences I had on it I never stopped thinking about you.
"I don't know why but sometimes I would feel bad that I had this great freedom but you didn't - I wondered if you had just made a mistake, albeit a big one, or been unlucky.
"When I compared my position with what I imagined yours to be, it sort of didn't seem fair, although I know that's hard to understand."
At the time, the judge said he "envied" the doc's "extraordinary forgiveness".
And speaking to BBC Radio 4, the doctor described how he felt "connected" to his attacker.
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He said: "I guess also in some odd way I felt a sense of connection with him.
He and I were two individuals connected in this event. I haven’t been able to speak to him."
