A police officer held a man's chest together after a brutal axe attack left a Hawke's Bay man with horrific wounds.
Last week, the 22-year-old victim was celebrating his first night at a flat in Hastings. Suddenly two people allegedly jumped the fence to his property and sunk an axe deep in to his chest.
He was rushed to hospital suffering severe injuries.
"It was a huge shock. He was a status one on the way to hospital," his mother told Hawkes Bay Today.
"The surgeon said to my sister that a little bit more force and it would have been all over and done with."
His mother says he suffered two broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a cut to his heart in the attack.
"At the end of the day it was probably only that the police officer was holding his chest together," his mother told Hawkes Bay Today.
"I just can't believe that this kind of thing would happen to four kids who were minding their own business."
The three other flatmates have all moved out. Police say inquiries are ongoing.
Newshub.
