‘I Talked Someone Out Of Killing Me Then Rang Myself An Ambulance’

A Melbourne man says it's a miracle he's still alive, as he recounted the terrifying night he somehow convinced his attacker to not kill him.

David Fowles called himself an ambulance after being stabbed more than 15 times in his Bellfield home during the early hours of January 25, 2020.

Fowles said he was laying down with his cat before the attack when the accused, his then-housemate, asked to speak with him.

"I heard him come out of his room again, go to the kitchen, then he came into my room and stabbed the hell out of me," Fowles claimed.

Fearing for his life, Fowles said he tried to calm his attacker down.

"From the moment he entered the room it was clear to me that this was the end of my life ...  I immediately started talking, even as he was cutting me.”

"I told him 'you will ruin your life if you murder me, you have to stop for your own sake', and talked to him about things I knew he had coming up that he had hopes for."

"I feel that, by showing compassion to the person who was killing me, I broke through whatever was gripping him at the time," Fowles claimed.

"I had to ask him to put the knife down... it was a bit unnerving."

Fowles, who was left with multiple wounds, said he struggled to remember how to ring for help from his smartphone during the attack.

"I unlocked the phone, had to find the keypad ... and then dialled 3333. 'That isn’t it' I thought. I erased it, and finally, I managed to dial 000. I put it on speakerphone and just shouted 'Ambulance! Police!' and the address."

Fowles said he was with his cat in his room when he was attacked. Image: Supplied

"Without triple-zero I'd be dead.”

Fowles said he didn't expect to live after the attack and that his recovery had been 'miraculous'.

He said he was left with "terrible wounds" across his chest, back and shoulder, and his neck was broken.

He said he was surprised to be up and walking around unaided within a week of the attack, despite being stabbed in both knees.

"My right arm doesn’t work well right now and the left is in a splint, but I’ve received optimistic advice about my chances for returned function. Frankly, I could live with a dodgy arm if I had to, it’s still a good deal.

"They put five pints of blood in me I’m told, it’s a miracle I’m alive."

Fowles, an Aussie actor, and comedian said he would continue to work during his recovery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Since the attack, Fowles said there had been some silver linings, an online fundraiser has been set up to help him with his recovery.

Fowles' attacker, a 37-year-old male, remains in police custody and has been charged with intentionally causing serious injury, Victoria Police confirmed. He will face court on 22 April 2020.

Meanwhile, Fowles said he feels empathy towards his attacker.

"This is a profoundly sad outcome for the perpetrator," he said.

"We need to understand what drives men to this, and compassionately, and constructively, work to prevent it ever coming to this," he said.