Backpacker who survived stabbing attack speaks out

Chris Porter and Rosie Ayliffe (Supplied)
Chris Porter and Rosie Ayliffe (Supplied)

A backpacker who survived a stabbing attack in a north Queensland hostel says he broke both his legs while trying to warn others.

Twenty-one-year-old Chris Porter shared a room with Rosie Ayliffe's daughter - the British backpacker Mia Ayliffe-Chung - and her alleged killer Smail Ayad.

"She's everywhere, I see her everywhere - I see her in the young people I'm meeting," says Ms Ayliffe.

Two strangers brought together by one horrifying event.

"I keep getting down days and good days kind of thing," says Mr Porter.

Ayad's accused of stabbing Mia to death at the Homehill hostel a fortnight ago.

Mr Porter says he climbed a balcony to try to raise the alarm.

"I was trying to warn all of the girls to lock their doors and as I was coming back down again I just fell," he says.

He broke both of his legs.

Ayad is also charged with murdering British backpacker Tom Jackson, who allegedly tried to shield Mia. He was stabbed 20 times.

"I wasn't there to witness what he'd done but from what I've heard, that guy is an inspiration, his family should be proud," says Mr Porter.

He has one question for Ayad.

"Why is the main question, for days we lived with him and he just seemed like a normal guy," he says.

"He's a very dangerous person and I have no interest in talking to him but the person I would like to speak to is his mother," says Ms Ayliffe.

Mia had been planning a trip home to the UK for Christmas to surprise her mum.

Ms Ayliffe plans to scatter her daughter's ashes around the world so she can continue her travels. New Zealand is one of those places.

Newshub.