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Cyclist stabbed on Bristol and Bath Railway Path was "a minute" from death

33-year-old victim of attack relives his ordeal

A cyclist who was stabbed in the legs when he was attacked while riding home on the Bristol to Bath Railway Path before Christmas has said that he was a “whisker away” from an artery being severed, with potentially fatal consequences.

Earlier this week, Avon & Somerset Police put out a fresh appeal for information on the incident, which happened near Fishponds at the Bristol end of the popular commuting and leisure route at 7.15pm on Wednesday 18 December.

The 33-year-old man, who did not want to be named found his path blocked by two men, who demanded his possessions.

Following a scuffle, the pair fled empty-handed, but the victim quickly realised he had been wounded.

He told the Bristol Post: “Paramedics said it was the adrenaline which I was thankful for.

“I remember feeling something wasn't quite right. I looked down and there was blood everywhere. Blood running down my legs, my shoes were red.

“I then collapsed because my legs couldn't take my weight any longer.”

A passing cyclist dialled 999, while another used a scarf as a tourniquet and rang the victim’s girlfriend, who soon arrived on the scene.

“I'll never forget the scream when she arrived, it's a sound I never want to hear again,” the cyclist said.

“She came running over and one of the men told her she needed to calm down before she saw me.”

He needed to undergo surgery on both legs, and said that it was once in hospital he went into shock.

“I broke down,” he explained. “The doctor told me if they had hit an artery I'd only have a minute to get help. That was the first time in the whole ordeal I felt scared.

“I didn't feel scared at the time. The whole thing lasted about ten seconds. I didn't know they had knives, I didn't have time to think.

“I wish I had just given them my phone or my bike. I remember at the time just thinking this isn't happening.

“It was fight or flight and unfortunately for me my brain picked fight.”

He said that the attack still affected him. “I have nightmares. I think about what happened every day. I keep replaying what happened and thinking 'what if'? 

“I was working late that night and I think what if I left on time? But then they would have still been there and it would have happened to another cycliist.

“Because it was so dark I have very little descriptions of them. They are still out there – they could do this again.”

However, he said: “I think they never meant to stab me. I think they wanted to intimate me. They panicked after it happened. They didn't take my bike or my bag.”

Police officers recovered a knife at the scene and found another nearby.

The suspects are described as “white, approximately 5ft 7ins, slim and in their late-teens or early 20s.

“One man is said to have worn a dark olive coat with a white furry hood. His hood was up and he had a distinctive face mask to cover himself. He was also wearing dark jeans. The second man was wearing similar clothing.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call officers on 101, quoting reference 5219291413.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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3 comments

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Sub5orange | 4 years ago
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I got mugged earlier this week on the Fallowfield loop in the evening. One youth crashed a shopping trolley right into me. I fell off the bike, than was encircled by several of the future less youths. I was extremely calm during the incident and I wonder whether that kept them at bay as they could all have attacked at the same time putting me in serious trouble which they did not. there was more than 5 of them. I considered attacking one of them but one of the youths hold something in the manner of a knife so I thought fuck it, the bike is ensured. I let it go when one of losers attacked me from the side whilst another pulled the bike. They ran off with it. I recovered some of the kit, lights and cyclic fly which they just seem to have thrown away (-:  on the way to an access road waiting for the police. 
unfortunately the cyclic Only recorded them only from the shoulders down but might still help to identify them. later the police recovered my bike that was thrown behind some hedges but the carbon seat stays show damage and the LbS will recommend write off to the ensurers. Reading above it could have been much worse. Bloody shame though that you risk being mugged on traffic free alternative tracks that should be free of risk and should encourage cycling. I was aware of the reputation on the Fallowfield loop and I have been using it less since 2018  but then started using it more again Recently especially on bad weather days because I wanted to avoid busy main roads and it is the most direct route. I got punished for it. 

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Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
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Is Bristol the crimes against cyclists capital of the UK? Seems to be reading these pages. 

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martybsays replied to Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
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So he wasn't a minute away from death,. He was a stab to an artery away from being a minute away from death. Terrible thing, but click bait headlines do credibility few favours. 

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