Sword attack victim thanks NHS for saving his life

A man who was badly injured in the Hainault samurai sword attack has thanked the NHS for saving his life.

In a social media post shared from his hospital bed, Henry De Los Rios Polania said he had "a long journey ahead".

The 35-year-old IT engineer sustained a deep wound to his hand during the attack in north-east London on Tuesday.

Daniel Anjorin, 14, was killed in the attack, in which two police officers were badly hurt. Marcus Arduini Monzo is accused of the schoolboy's murder.

Mr De Los Rios Polania, who is from Hainault, was described by his sister, Jessica, 31, as a hero for protecting his family. He was one of four people who were injured.

In a post on his Instagram story, Mr De Los Rios Polania said: "I would like to start by thanking all the nurses, paramedics, and the doctors on the NHS for keeping me alive.

"I'm recovering. I have a long journey ahead but I'm very positive that this trauma will end soon."

The 35-year-old, who is being cared for at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, sent gratitude to the police for risking their lives, and thanked friends and family and all those who made sure he did not "bleed out".

His sister previously said: "It's a very long process to get his hand recovered, due to this wound." She added it was "going to be a really long, traumatising recovery for him".

"He's very devastated to believe something like this could happen," she said. "To us, he's our hero. He protected them – my niece and my sister-in-law.

"They were just literally sleeping, opened their eyes to see a man with a big machete sword.

"He felt helpless in the moment but to us he is our hero. It could have been extremely worse."

Mr De Los Rios Polania and his family are originally from Colombia but have lived in the UK for several years.

Mr Monzo, a 36-year-old dual Spanish-Brazilian national living in Newham, east London, appeared in court on Thursday accused of murdering Daniel.

He has also been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article.

Police were called to reports of a car crashing into a house and people being stabbed at about 07:00 BST on Tuesday.

The Met Police said a 33-year-old man was injured when a van crashed into a property on Laing Close. He was then attacked and sustained a neck wound.

Mr De Los Rios Polania was assaulted inside a nearby house.

Following this, Daniel was attacked and suffered stab wounds. He died later in hospital.

Of the police officers who were injured while attending the crime scene, one suffered "horrifically serious" arm wounds, while the other officer sustained a serious hand injury.

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