Horrific neck wounds of hairdresser glassed on night out – before being caught up in Manchester bombing

THESE are the horrific life-changing injuries suffered by a hairdresser who was glassed in the street months before he was before caught up in the Manchester Arena bombing.

Carl O'Neill, 44, was enjoying a night out on December 11 last year in Manchester when 22-year-old Joshua Murphy plunged a broken glass bottle into his neck.

The shard missed his main artery by a millimetre.

This unprovoked attack left Carl, who owns a hair dressing salon, with severe scarring and no feeling down one side of his face.

He was told by doctors he was lucky to be alive.

It is thought the attack happened after Murphy took offence when one of the Carl's friends laughed at him for vomiting in the street.

Carl described heading home from Warrington Central Station and noticing one of three lads trying to attack his staff members.

"He had a bottle and he tried to hit my staff member over the head with it," said Carl, from Warrington.

"On the third try the bottle smashed on a hand rail and he stabbed me in the neck.

"As soon as it happened I knew I needed to go to hospital."

The dad-of-two needed a two-hour operation to close the gaping wound and ended up with 10 stitches in his neck and three on his ear, leaving a grizzly scar.

He was forced to take weeks off work at the busiest time of the year and is now on medication and sleeping tablets.

Carl, a father to Lois, 12, and Darcey, 10, said: "I still get stinging pains in my ear, and the bottle shredded nerves and muscles

"I've been told that I'll never get the feeling back in my cheek."

He overcame his anxiety to take Melanie and their daughters to watch Ariana Grande on the night the Manchester Arena was bombed on May 22.

The family, who were already dealing with the devastating news that Melanie has terminal cancer, survived the attack unscathed.

Carl said: "It's been a really tough year, especially for my wife and daughters.

"We'll be glad to put it behind us.

"Luckily she didn't see the actual attack, but with everything that's been going on with her diagnosis it's been far from ideal.

Murphy was found not guilty of wounding with intent but yesterday admitted wounding the dad-of-two and was locked up for 20 months by Liverpool Crown Court.

Carl said: "He's just done something really stupid on a night out and now he's paying for it.

"I didn't get any satisfaction from the prison sentence or anything like that."

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