Attack leaves man with knife embedded in face

The red line shows where the knife was left in the man's face according to an x-ray obtained by police. nzherald.co.nz graphic

The handle of a knife used to stab a man during a fight early today broke off during the attack, leaving the blade embedded in the man's face.

The 36-year-old victim was rushed to hospital with the ends of the 150mm blade poking out both sides of his face, just beneath his eyes.

The attack happened at a house off Lonely Track Road in semi-rural Albany on Auckland's North Shore at about 1.30am.

Police said the blade entered one side of his face just below his eye and travelled through his face, behind his nose before the tip exited on the other side and the handle broke off.

"It is completely sideways through his head. It has gone in one side and the tip is out the side by the other side. The handle has snapped off and this guy has got a knife blade about six inches long inside his skull," said North Shore police area commander Inspector Les Paterson.

He said the blade was lodged in the man's nasal cavity behind his nose but had missed the optic nerves of both eyes.

The man was rushed to North Shore Hospital and later transferred to Middlemore where the wound was at first described as "definitely life-threatening". This was later changed by police to serious but not life-threatening.

Mr Paterson said surgeons were deciding how to best remove the blade and treat the man.

The 31-year-old alleged attacker fled from the Albany house with another person. He was known to police and if he was not found shortly further details would be released to put pressure on him to give himself up, Mr Paterson said.

He said police knew details of the vehicle the man left in.

"This guy obviously knows we are looking for him," Mr Paterson said.

Neither of the men lived at the house and one had arrived only moments before the incident, police said.

They are looking for a gold 1997 Honda Accord registered number WM7720. It is thought that there is a woman and two year old child travelling with the man and it is not known if their safety is at risk.

Police are appealing for the man to contact them and say they may have to release his name if he does not come forward. He is described as part Maori, of solid build, 1.86m tall, with dark straggly hair. He had a goatee type beard when he was last seen and officers said he should not be approached.

Treatment 'straightforward'

Doctors asked to give their views on the case said the stabbing victim may not be left with long-term serious injuries and the treatment would be relatively straightforward.

Auckland head and neck surgeon John Chaplin said the major blood vessels of the head were further back in the neck and the knife could be relatively easily removed in an operating theatre where bleeding could be controlled.

He said: "I imagine it would be relatively straight forward to pull it out. The main risk from that would be from some bleeding from some of the arteries around the nose and the sinuses.

"There are some nerves which could be injured. There are some nerves that run to the muscles of the face that may well be injured and some sensory nerves that could be injured."

Dr Chaplin said he recently treated a man accidentally hit by a nail gun and was able to just pull it out.

He said the big danger was bleeding when the knife was removed but if it did not bleed when it went in, it probably would not bleed when it came out.

Another head and neck surgeon, Dr Chris Thomson from Christchurch, said if some of the facial nerves were damaged, they probably would not recover and may leave the victim with some facial numbness.

"There is not much there to hit apart from some facial sensation nerves. It looks dramatic but it is not as bad as it seems."

Damage to the facial nerves might never recover and the victim could end up with numbness in his mid face around his cheek and nose.

He said surgeons could insert an endoscope into the man's nasal cavity through his nose to get a picture of the injuries and monitor the response as the knife was removed.

"You get a great view but it might be that it is all very bloody and swollen and difficult to see with an endoscope," said Dr Thomson.

"It could simply be a case of pulling it out and see what happens and exploring the wound from either end."

- NZPA, HERALD ONLINE STAFF