"A British backpacker wishes he had been warned about the "violent undertones" of Christchurch after 11pm before he was stabbed four times at the weekend.
The 23-year-old from Yorkshire was in a group of English and Danish tourists who were attacked by a gang of young men about 1am on Saturday.
He was stabbed in the chest and the elbow and twice in the shoulder in the unprovoked attack in City Mall.
If the stab to his chest had not hit and broken a rib he would be dead, Christchurch Hospital doctors told him.
The rib deflected the knife and stopped it causing life-threatening damage to his lung.
Even after he fell to the ground the gang punched and kicked him, fracturing his cheekbone and breaking his nose.
Police central city area commander Garry Knowles has appealed for any witnesses or information about the attackers.
"These morons come into town and think they can attack people ... We are going to hunt them down," he said....."
