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A man who was stabbed in an Upper Hutt bar is bewildered the staff continued to serve drinks as he lay bleeding in the corner.
He said he lost three litres of blood during the incident at the Tote Bistro Bar in Trentham on the night of Saturday, August 13.
"It was a weird feeling, to be honest, seeing people still drinking," said the man, who only wanted to be known as Keegan.
Details of the stabbing on the bar's dance floor cannot be reported due to court proceedings.
Keegan initially thought he'd been tasered but was shocked when he lifted up his shirt and saw "black blood" pouring out of a 40mm wound in his abdomen.
Keegan spent a week in Hutt Hospital and another two weeks on bedrest at home. Photo / Supplied
A staff member led him to a spot in the corner where he could lie down while they waited for police and paramedics to arrive, but the bar continued serving drinks and didn't close down or clear people out.
Keegan still has flashbacks to lying in the corner with a friend applying pressure to his wound as multiple people walked past and popped their heads around to gawk at him.
They were "looking at me and going 'oh shit' . . . I didn't want to be seen".
His partner, who wasn't there on the night, said he was in shock after the stabbing and "didn't understand the extent of his injury".
One of the other members of their group took charge and applied pressure to his wound.
"That definitely saved his life," she said.
"There was just blood everywhere, people were actually just leaving and being sick outside, there was just so much blood."
It was "crazy" they didn't close the place down.
She was upset security and bar staff allowed him to "continue walking around the pub, bleeding out", in the beginning.
Keegan described going in and out of consciousness when he was in the ambulance on the way to hospital.
He said his blood pressure was dangerously low, and he lost a total of three litres of blood.
"I remember it being so intense and so scary."
He was taken into surgery and spent a week in hospital, followed by another two weeks on bed rest at home. He has only just stopped using crutches in the past few days.
He was still mentally working through "the traumatic thing of what's happened, nearly dying".
As someone who usually used physical activity to work through difficult situations, Keegan has instead had to turn to journaling to process his emotions.
He has complained to police about the bar not closing after the stabbing, and was told police have referred it to their alcohol team.
The bar's spokeswoman, Genevieve Hassall, said the safety of their patrons and team "is our highest priority".
"We can't comment further on the incident on August 14 while it is in the hands of the police."
A police spokeswoman confirmed they were called to a property on Ararino St about midnight between August 13 and 14 following reports someone had been assaulted with a weapon.
