Television doctor stabbed during robbery

Television doctor Tom Mulholland is recovering after being stabbed during a robbery in Auckland.

Dr Mulholland, who recently fronted Dr Tom, The Attitude Doctor on TV2 on weekdays, had surgery at Auckland City Hospital after an intruder stabbed him in the forearm with a carving knife and severed an artery.

Now back at his Taranaki home, Dr Mulholland said he had thought he might die because he was losing so much blood.

He was at a friend's inner-city apartment about 10pm on Thursday when two intruders broke in demanding money.

"I stood up and gave them my wallet and cellphone and told them that's all I've got. They yelled and said they wanted more money."

When he put his hands up and explained he had no more, one of the men stabbed him with the 20cm knife. "He got me on the arm just below the elbow. He stuck this knife in then pulled it out and because he hit an artery the blood sprayed out about three feet."

The thieves then ransacked the apartment, taking cellphones, guitars and cash, and ripped the phone off the wall so no one could call the police.

As he tried to stop the blood flow Dr Mulholland realised if he didn't get help soon he could die.

He walked up Wellesley St and flagged down a car. The driver called an ambulance.

"I must have looked like something out of a horror movie. I was covered in blood with my arm above my head ... I must have lost about a litre of blood."

Within 30 minutes of arriving at hospital, Dr Mulholland was in the operating theatre and doctors clipped the cut artery.

- NZPA