Woman stabbed 11 times in random street attack survives thanks to her Primark scarf

A woman was stabbed 11 times in a random street attack but she survived, thanks to a £5 Primark scarf wrapped around her neck.

Alexandra Vignon, 25, was attacked by James Thomas, 24. For 10 years, Thomas had fantasized about stabbing someone with a knife and he finally decided to follow live out his fantasies.

He bought a knife from TK Maxx and chose Alexandra as his victim as she worked door-to-door marketing in Southend, Essex. He stabbed her in the cheek, neck, shoulders, arms, back and breast before fleeing as a car stopped.

Fortunately, only a fraction of the blade pierced Alexandra’s skin, missing major arteries. The blanket-style scarf Alexandra had on prevented the blade from going all the way into her skin.

Speaking of how she was saved by her Primark scarf Alexandra said:

It was a last-minute decision to put that scarf on, but a life-saving one.

I should have died that day. There was blood everywhere.

Doctors said I was lucky I’d wrapped up.

Medics found the knife sticking out of Alexandra’s clothes. She had to undergo four hours of surgery at Whitechapel Hospital, East London, where the blade was removed.

It had only gone “a few centimetres deep,” she said.

She added: “They said it saved my life. My backpack and coat had also offered protection.”

Alexandra is still on pain relief and numb on the right side of her face and neck due to nerve damage, but has returned to work. She aims to train as a bikini fitness competitor, showing her scars with pride.

She said: “I refuse to hide them. James Thomas ruined his life, not mine. I have big plans.”

Thomas turned himself in. Last month, he was sentenced to 16 years in jail at Basildon Crown Court for attempted murder and possessing a blade.