A 19-year-old has recalled how he was left fighting for his life after two Black men allegedly attacked him with a gun and knife in a case of mistaken revenge following the Ghent Festivities last month in Belgium.
The victim, who has remained anonymous, told HLN that he had never seen the attackers before and had simply been waiting for a bus when they targeted him.
“Honestly, right there on the ground, I had actually already accepted that I was going to die,” he said.
The teenager suffered eight stab wounds, including four to his upper body and four to his legs. One blade narrowly missed his heart, while another struck his liver. “One [attacker] punched a hole in my head with his weapon, while the other kept hacking at me with a knife I never saw,” he told the Belgian news site.
“One wound was barely two centimeters from his heart,” his mother added. “Those perpetrators had only one intention: to murder my son.”
The attack took place after the teenager had spent an evening with friends at the Ghent Festivities. He later walked with an acquaintance to a bus stop near Sint-Jorisbrug.
“Suddenly, in a flash, I saw two Black men walk past,” he said. “It looked like they were putting on some kind of balaclavas. One of them lifted his shirt, and I saw a gun glinting.”
The two friends attempted to flee but separated. The teenager slipped on some steps, while his companion escaped.
“Those two men eventually turned against me,” he said, before realizing he had been stabbed.
“It felt like boiling water running down my head. I touched my face with one hand and saw that it was completely red. Blood,” he recalled.
He then noticed that his shirt and pants were also covered in blood. “When I saw those stab wounds, I started to panic,” he said. “After a few steps, I collapsed.”
The teen required emergency treatment but managed to survive the attack.
The family later learned that the attackers had apparently been seeking revenge against the victim’s friend over a fight the previous day. The teenager had no involvement in that dispute.
“Those two men had wanted to take revenge on that other boy,” his mother said. “But because they hadn’t been able to catch him, my innocent son had to pay the price.”
The two suspects were identified through surveillance footage and arrested. They remain under investigation for attempted murder.
