Quick-thinking bouncer may have saved stab victim's life

Quick action by a Hamilton bouncer may have saved the life of a bar patron who could have bled to death after he was stabbed several times in a fight in a city bar early on Sunday morning.

Doorman Mikey Brown used his first aid training and a towel he had in his back pocket to stem the flow of blood after the Huntly victim was stabbed at Axces Bar in Alexandra St at 2.30am.

The 19-year-old was bleeding profusely when he stumbled out of the bar.

"I just saw all the blood on his shirt and because it was so tight it was like it was keeping all the blood in," he told the Waikato Times.

"When he took it off that's when it started pouring out. Blood was coming from every gash. There was about five, I think, one under his arm, two on his chest and a couple in his stomach."

Mr Brown cleaned off the blood to find the wounds and grabbed anything he could to stop the bleeding.

"I had a towel in my back-pocket so I used that to put pressure on the wounds."

He said the bar did not have first aid material to deal with stab wounds.

"But I have had first aid training as part of my job so it was just my natural instinct to do what I did."

He said he did not move the victim because he was worried movement would make things worse so he stayed with him as police cleared the bar.

The injured man was taken to Waikato Hospital where he had emergency surgery and was expected to recover.

The offender is still believed to be at large this morning.

- NZPA