The victim of a knife attack by an extremist at a London Underground station has praised what he called the extraordinary bravery of bystanders who helped to save him, and said the incident had not changed his life.
Lyle Zimmerman, 57, an amateur musician, was carrying his instruments and travelling to Leytonstone in east London to play with a band on 5 December 2015 when Muhiddin Mire stabbed him. Influenced by videos of the killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby, Mire attempted to cut Zimmerman’s throat near the ticket barrier.
Mire, who has a history of mental illness, was convicted for attempted murder earlier this month. Zimmerman, a medical researcher, 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.”
Armed with a bread knife, Mire had haphazardly attempted to cut his throat. Zimmerman told the Press Association: “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 the doctor attended to him, a man and a woman did their best to talk to Mire and keep 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,” Zimmerman said.
“These guys are extraordinarily brave, both the man and the women who verbally engaged and got him to move away from me, and the doctor.”
Zimmerman described the effect on his life as trivial. Three nights after being stabbed, he was out playing music. He continues to use public transport regularly, and has travelled through the station where he was attacked.
He said the calming presence of the doctor at the scene, who reassured him he was going to survive, had allowed him to do so. “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,” he said.
Following Mire’s conviction, Zimmerman, a US citizen, now hopes to be reunited with those who helped to save him at the station.
Apart from a prominent scar across his neck, he said the only other effect had been the temporary end to his snoring problem, which his partner was quite relieved about.
