A Daily Star UK report has shown how FA Cup celebrations turned bloody when a lout left a promising young footballer in a wheelchair for life.
Promising footballer Dan Curtis was out celebrating playing his first FA Cup match with pals when a horror knife attack left him "in hell".
The 24-year-old - who says he has "a body that can't do anything" - spoke out as the knifeman was jailed.
Thug Louis Holmes, 18, was locked up for 10 years in youth custody after he stabbed five men in one night.
Recalling the terrifying ordeal, Mr Curtis said: "In the moments after being stabbed in the neck, I lay on the floor not able to feel anything.
"I thought I was going to die and it was the end." The dad-of-one from Keynsham, Somerset, revealed the attack outside a nightclub left him "heartbroken" and unsure of whether he will ever walk again.
Drunk Holmes knifed Mr Curtis outside the Dojo Lounge nightclub in Bristol last August.
Shockingly, the teenager had just stabbed another man three times in a separate attack, and would go on to stab three more that night. Det Insp Jane Wigmore, of Bristol Police, said:
"Louis Holmes went on a spree of violence and destruction that night.
"Dan will never fully recover from the injuries he suffered. His courage and strength of character has been an inspiration to all of us. "
Mr Curtis told of how the brutal attack "caused a tremendous amount of stress to my family" as he now needs round-the-clock care from his mum.
It's also meant missing out on time with his tot.
"Because I was such a long time in hospital my four-year-old son thought I'd rejected him," said Mr Curtis, "This breaks my heart as I'm not able to explain the reasons I couldn't see him and that it wasn't his fault."
Mr Curtis admits he is "not sure what the future holds" for him.
Holmes, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court and given an extended sentence of 15 years with the final five years on license.
He admitted four counts of wounding and one of wounding with intent.
Getaway driver Jamie Ivers, 26, of Charfield - who punched a taxi driver in the face on the same night - was slapped with a 35-months prison term.
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