POLICE were today hunting a maniac knifeman who attacked a magician and left him for dead.

Keith Dixon lost nearly two-thirds of the blood in his body when the attacker severed an artery in his arm. Mr Dixon, 29, clutched the wound to stem the flow and managed to stagger half a mile to his Chadderton home despite collapsing semi-conscious on three or four occasions.

Emergency surgery and a massive transfusion saved his life and he has since undergone micro-surgery on his hands to restore nerve endings torn in the assault.

He said: "I still have no recollection of what happened. I had it in my mind that I had to get to my home but I kept passing out on the way. I couldn't understand why I kept falling over and had no appreciation of how seriously I was hurt."

The attack happened when Mr Dixon had been out in Manchester city centre and got the midnight bus from Oldham Street and got off around 12.25 am last Saturday morning in Oldham Road, Hollinwood.

From there he took the short cut to his home through Hollinwood Railway Station, intending to cross the motorway on a footbridge. Although he has no recollection of the incident massive blood staining at the station has shown that is where he was attacked.

He suffered slash wounds under both eyes which needed a total of 12 stitches and multiple stab and slash wounds to his arms and hands as he raised them instinctively to defend his face.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said: "There is little doubt that had Keith failed to get home or at least get help he would almost certainly have died from loss of blood."

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