A man who allegedly had his arm almost chopped off in a machete attack by a gang of eshays in a shopping mall has spoken of his fight for life.
Saurabh Anand, 33, was allegedly set upon by five teenagers in the unprovoked attack in Altona Meadows, in Melbourne’s west, ten days ago.
As well as almost losing his hand and arm, Mr Anand was allegedly slashed and stabbed in the shoulder and back, and suffered a fractured spine, broken bones in his arm, and head injuries.
Doctors initially thought they would have to amputate his left hand, but surgeons were able to reattach it by inserting screws into his wrist and hand during five hours of emergency surgery.
‘I am completely broken, mentally, physically and emotionally,’ he said on Monday.
‘I don’t know how I’ll survive. I am in constant pain. It is the toughest time in my life – I wouldn’t have wished this on my worst enemy.’
Mr Anand was at Central Square Shopping Centre to pick up medication and was talking on the phone when the gang of youths allegedly pounced around 7.30pm.
He said he had spotted five teenagers sitting on a bench near a cafe outside the shopping centre, but was quickly surrounded as he came out of the pharmacy.
One teenager allegedly demanded his phone before another allegedly punched him repeatedly in the head until he fell, breaking his back as he hit the ground
The gang then allegedly began punching and kicking him as he lay on the ground before a third teen then allegedly pulled out a machete and held it to his throat.
‘He [allegedly] went for my neck, my throat,’ he told The Today Facebook page on Monday following his release from hospital after eight days.
‘To save myself, I raised my hand up to protect my throat and my arm [allegedly] got completely sliced off – the machete cut all of the muscle, the tendons, the nerves.
‘But if the machete had gone through my neck I would not be here today.’
Mr Anand said he feared he would die in the alleged attack.
He said the first cut allegedly sliced through his hand near his thumb before another almost hacked off his hand at the wrist.
‘It wasn’t just once, they [allegedly] did it repeatedly,’ he said. ‘They [allegedly] tried to kill me three or four times.
‘My hand was literally hanging off. There was so much blood and so much pain. And he [allegedly] did not stop. He [allegedly] cut through both the bones in my arm.
‘The bones were sticking out of my skin.’
He said that as he lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood, his attackers then stood on his back and allegedly struck him again on his shoulders.
‘I was just trying to survive,’ he said. ‘I was just tumbling around, half-concussed, half-conscious.’
He said he lay there for around half an hour before emergency services arrived to help him.
‘For 30 minutes, I kept rolling there, stumbling, trying to save myself, holding my hand and falling down,’ he said. ‘It was very scary.’
He said he begged for help from bystanders but was ignored until one Good Samaritan finally stepped in to call police before he was rushed to hospital.
Several teenagers have now been arrested in connection with the incident.
A 14-year-old appeared at a Children’s Court this week charged with a spate of offences including intentionally causing serious injury, recklessly causing injury, robbery and unlawful assault.
He was remanded in custody until August 15.
Two 15-year-olds were also charged with intentionally causing serious injury, robbery and unlawful assault.
Police said the two were bailed and will face a Children’s Court on August 11.
Mr Anand says doctors still don’t know how much movement he will have in his hand and arm once his wounds heal.
‘There is no certainty about that at all,’ he said.
He says he now faces financial ruin as he tries to recover, with no income and no support despite having lived in for seven years.
‘I have invested in this country, paid my taxes, paid my bills – supported this country in every way, economically or supported the community,’ he added.
‘But today I am in such a situation as to have nothing to show that anyone or the government will help me.
‘I need support and I hope the government will help me. Someone needs to hear the victims.
‘It is very easy to defend [alleged] offenders, saying that someone is underage, someone has mental health issues.
‘But what about my mental health right now? Who will take care of me at my home?
‘I would really like to urge the government of Victoria and the government of to please provide me with physical health support, a physical carer or a mental health support worker.
‘I’m really scared to get out of my home. I have nowhere to go. I am completely injured, distorted, disoriented in my head and a completely broken man.’
A GoFundMe fundraiser set up to help pay Mr Anand’s medical bills has already raised more than $11,000 of a $26,000 target.
The fundraiser contains images of Mr Anand in his hospital bed, with his arm in a sling.
His friend Kanika, who organised the fundraiser, called on the community to rally behind Mr Anand.
‘He’s still struggling to come to terms with what a bad ordeal he had to go through,’ she said in the appeal.
‘In this time, I would urge the community to bring in generous support for him as this would help him to support his medical expenses, while covering for the loss of income from work and recover from his physical injuries and mental distress through rehabilitation.
‘Your contribution would help him to recover better without him having to worry about his next dollar as the journey is going to be long to bring it back to normal considering the expenses required for ongoing therapy, counselling , medication and rental expenses are not easy.’