A builder who suffered brain damage as a result of a savage attack at his Bradford home told today how his life had been destroyed.

David Welsh suffered massive blood loss and his heart stopped after he was stabbed in the thigh by a sharp builder’s tool which was thrust through his front door.

He spent weeks in hospital fighting for his life. At one stage his family and partner were told he probably would not pull through.

Mr Welsh survived, but suffered irrepairable brain damage due to lack of oxygen caused by blood loss.

His friend and carer Katie Molineux described him as a “medical miracle” to have survived the incident.

His attacker, Jason Lever, 28, formerly of Ashbourne Road, Bolton, Bradford, was jailed for ten years in September. Lever had attacked Mr Welsh after an argument in the street.

Mr Welsh now lives in constant pain and suffers from severe depression and anxiety. He is unable to work.

He was a fit and healthy 23-year-old with a bright future in the building trade before the attack in October 2007.

Mr Welsh said: “Without Katie and her family, and my aunt and cousins, I don’t know what I’d do.

“When I’m on my own I start to think about what I could have done with my life if things had been different.

“Everything was going really well. They were going to make me a site manager, now I’m not going to be anything.

“All I knew how to do was building. Now I can’t do building anymore.

“They said I can see things but I can’t store them properly. I forget things like the bath running or that there’s something in the oven. I forgot I had taken money out of the machine and took more out. I went 20p overdrawn and the bank charged me £75.”

Miss Molineux said: “We are all so proud of David,” she said. “For him to have got this far is incredible, but it is very hard.

“The doctors say he has frontal lobe syndrome which means he has difficulty retaining information and gives him mood swings. Some days he is very ‘up’ and other times he can get very angry and depressed.

“Basically he has lost all the information we learn between the ages of about five and ten. Anything we take for granted is very difficult for David now.”

Things got so bad that Mr Welsh, of Bolton, Bradford, took an overdose and almost died. Adding to his physical and psychological pain, he incurred large debts and is penniless, fearing his home could be taken from him as he only manages to pay the mortgage with the support of Miss Molineax.

Unable to work, he lives on disability benefits.

Miss Molineax said: “People see David and because he smiles and is friendly they think he’s all right, but it’s just an act he puts on. He’s not all right. He badly needs support, even if it’s just people to talk to.

“It’s amazing he manages to get out of bed each morning.

“Jason Lever may have got ten years but David has got a life sentence.”