A father who was stabbed in the heart and survived has spoken out to thank the paramedics who saved his life.

In an exclusive interview with the Times Series, Michael May, 42, expressed his sincere gratitude towards the medics who saved him.

At 3.30am on October 30, 2011, William Kelly, Mr May’s ex-wife’s new husband, entered the victim’s Whetstone flat where he was asleep.

Kelly hit Mr May over the head with a baton causing serious bleeding, he then stabbed him in the arm and chest before fleeing.

The knife punctured Mr May’s heart and lungs leaving his life hanging in the balance.

However, the victim managed to drag himself to the phone and call the emergency services.

The police officers who were first on the scene broke down the door to gain access to Mr May’s flat.

Immediately PC Mark Jackson put pressure on the injured man’s wounds to reduce the bleeding.

Mr May said: “Poor chap. That policeman must have got covered in blood. I don’t really know what to say, nothing seems sufficient.

“It can’t have been easy and their bravery was amazing.”

Once the police had established that the scene was safe paramedics entered and began cleaning the away the blood in an attempt to find the source of the bleeding.

These paramedics also called for the London Air Ambulance.

However, the helicopter does not fly in the dark so the London Air Ambulance’s doctor, who is a trained surgeon, travelled to the scene by road.

Mr May later learned that the paramedics had warned the police officers that he would probably not survive.

He said: “It all feels like a dream now but at the time I had serious internal bleeding and I felt like I was suffocating because of the injury to my lung.

“I just kept telling the doctor that I was suffocating, I thought I was dying. He was a really good guy though and he tried to keep my spirits up.”

He added: “On the news it all looks very glamorous being a London Air Ambulance paramedic but you don’t think about them turning up at three in the morning to crime scenes where people are covered in blood.

“It must just be horrific.”

Within 45 minutes of the attack Mr May was in the Royal London Hospital where he had a chest drain fitted, two blood transfusions and an operation to repair the damage inside his chest.

He spent two days in intensive care and a further six days on a ward.

Mr May said: “The intensive care people were amazing. It is incredible how quickly the human body can recover. It really is an amazing thing.”

Two weeks ago Mr May took his children, who are 11-years-old and 12-years-old, to the London Air Ambulance’s base at The Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel where they met one of the paramedics who treated him.

He said: “When I saw her I just gave her a big hug. You don’t know what to say in a situation like that.

“I just kept saying thank you. It was nice to see them and to thank them.

“They have restored my faith in humanity.”

On May 25 Kelly was given a 27 year sentence for the attempted murder of Mr May.

Mr May is now planning a fundraising bike ride to raise money for the London Air Ambulance.