A teenager has told how he was left fighting for his life after he was stabbed in the back by a mystery knifeman.

Lee Matthews, 19, spoke exclusively to the Telegraph & Argus from his mother's home in Caldene Crescent, Low Moor, where he is recovering from his ordeal.

Barman Lee was in intensive care for four days and had to endure three life saving operations following the stabbing which happened in Derby where he works in a pub.

Police launched an attempted murder inquiry following the attack in the early hours of September 9 which left Lee with a punctured right lung, punctured liver, and knife slashes to his right and left arms.

Despite spending a total of ten days in the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary Lee amazed doctors with his speedy recovery but he still can't forget what happened.

He said: "One of my workmates got mugged leaving work and had come back into the pub to use the phone to cancel his credit cards. One of the girls asked me to walk her back home after work around midnight for safety.

"I had a cup of tea at her place and then set off back to my house which was about ten minutes away. I was in my street and only a few houses away from my home when I felt a knife go straight into my back.

"I just went numb and the right side of my body went all warm. It was a weird feeling, not painful at all, but you could feel the force of it straight away."

Lee sped into a side street hoping to lose his attacker.

Lee said: "When the bloke was behind me I heard him say 'if you keep running I'll kill you'. I was running for my life but I ended up collapsing. I could feel air coming out of my side.

"My vision had started to go so when my attacker came up to me I couldn't see him - just the knife with a black handle."

The next thing the teenager remembers was his attacker walking away.

Lee, who attended Wyke Manor Upper School, managed to grab the attention of woman who called an ambulance and he was taken to hospital.

His mum Pat said: "The doctors kept saying I could lose Lee at any time."

Despite losing two stone Lee is determined to return to work in Derby where he moved in May after his boss at the Queens Hall Pub in Bradford took over a pub there.

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