Leytonstone Tube attack victim Lyle Zimmerman: 'I'm determined not to let this change my life'

Tube horror: the attack at Leytonstone station
Tom Marshall17 June 2016
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An amateur musician attacked by a knife-wielding extremist has hailed the "extraordinary" bravery of those who helped at the Tube station where he was stabbed.

Carrying instruments and dressed flamboyantly, Lyle Zimmerman, 57, was travelling to Leytonstone, east London, to play with a band on December 5 2015 when he was assaulted.

Mentally ill Muhiddin Mire, inspired by videos of the killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby, set upon the American native from behind as they approached the ticket barrier.

The attacker, armed with a breadknife, then haphazardly attempted to cut his throat.

Mr Zimmerman said: "I remember being struck a few times, I remember being on the ground being kicked, covering my head up with my arms and then the picture goes blank so I assume he must have kicked me hard enough to knock me out.

"I don't have any recollection of the knife or having my throat cut, the next thing I do remember is about five minutes later being on the stairs back up to the platform being attended to by an off-duty GP who was miraculously passing."

As his horrific wounds were tended to by the doctor, a man and a woman did their best to talk to Mire and drive him away.

"They then helped stop the bleeding and this was while Mire was still wandering around the station and coming quite close to the ticket barriers," the medical researcher added.

"These guys are extraordinarily brave - both the man and the woman who verbally engaged and got him to move away from me and the doctor."

Despite being the victim of a terrifying attack, Mr Zimmerman insisted he was not traumatised by the experience and the effect on his life was "trivial".

Only three nights after being stabbed, he was out playing music and still regularly uses public transport - even travelling through the site of his savage assault.

He credits this to the calming presence of the doctor at the scene when he returned to his senses, who reassured him that he was going to survive.

He added: "I very quickly knew that not only was I not in danger, but I had this very strong determination not to have it affect my life - when I was in the emergency room one of the attending physicians was speaking to a police officer and saying: 'No, Mr Zimmerman doesn't have life-threatening injuries, he has life-changing injuries'.

"I remember cheerily waving my hand from the hospital bed and saying: 'No I don't, I'm determined not to let this change my life'."

Following Mire's conviction for attempted murder, Mr Zimmerman now hopes to be reunited with those who helped save him at the station.

Apart from a prominent scar across his neck, he said the only other side effect was the temporary end to his snoring problem which, he quipped, his partner was quite relieved by.

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

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