A young Hamilton couple are too scared to return after strangers brutally attacked them in their driveway
Family won’t return to home where man’s arm almost severed by strangers in attack.
A young Hamilton couple are too scared to return home after strangers randomly and brutally attacked them with a machete in their driveway.
Jordan Mutton, 24, was slashed at least twice with a machete at his Enderley home last week - shattering the bones in his forearm and slicing throughnerves and an artery.
He had arrived home with his partner Milly Ludwig, also 24, about 9.15pm to find about five strangers blocking their Tennyson Rd driveway.
The couple got out of the car, leaving their 3-year-old daughter, Angel, in the backseat.
"I didn't even see it coming. It happened so quick, and for nothing," he told the Herald from a family member's house yesterday.
"They were just standing in our driveway and all of a sudden this happens. I got out to have a look and to ask them to move but before I could even say anything - chop!
"I put my arm up to defend myself and got the first two through my forearm and straight through the bone and that cut all the tendons and severed an artery."
Cradling his nearly-severed arm, Mr Mutton fled his attackers and jumped a 2m fence - a feat he said was fuelled by adrenaline.
Jordan Mutton, Milly Ludwig and their daughter Angel. Photo / Peter Drury
"I just remember being on the other side of the fence and I was pretty much thinking, 'This is it'. I thought it was going to be the end of me."
He did not initially feel pain, but it started to set in after a few minutes, he said.
"That's when I started to realise how bad it was. I took my shirt off and wrapped it around my arm and twisted it up to stop the bleeding."
His distraught partner called 111 and took their daughter to a neighbour's house before rushing after her partner, following a trail of blood to the fence he had climbed.
"I have never seen so much blood," said Ms Ludwig, who was unable to climb the fence and reach Mr Mutton herself.
A Fire Service crew had to cut the lock on the fence's gate so St John medics could reach and treat Mr Mutton, before taking him to Waikato Hospital. During nine hours of surgery, metal plates and multiple screws were inserted into his arm.
It is expected it will take about 18 months for him to regain strength in his hand.
Dozens of stitches encircle Mr Mutton's arm and he is unable to work at his scaffolding job.
"We are still getting over the shock of things, really," said Ms Ludwig. "We are staying with friends and family because the police have told us not to go home because it might not be safe.
