JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man stabbed in the back with a knife outside a popular bar in Riverside's Five Points district lived to talk about what happened.
From his hospital bed at UF Health in Jacksonville, Jordan White spoke with News4Jax on Thursday as he continued to recover from the attack that happened late Sunday night outside Birdies.
White said he thought his short life of 25 years was over when a man stabbed him.
"I didn't know I was stabbed at first. It was kind of just a shock. I kind of lost my breath for a second and then stood back up," he said. "I thought I was going to die."
UNCUT: Jenese Harris' full interview with Jordan White
As White struggled to turn around, he said, he looked his attacker in the face.
"I saw him holding something. At first, again, I didn't know it was a blade," White said. "He went to his car, which was parked less than 10 feet away ... He closed the car door. I started panicking and I screamed at him, 'Why? Like, why? What did I do to you? Who are you?'"
The attacker gave him a bizarre response.
"He said, 'I am the tin man,' which was really strange," White said. "He just walked away."
White called his girlfriend, who was nearby, and she rushed to his aid.
"He was on the floor and there was a cup of water next to him," recounted Sharrell Love, White's girlfriend.
She pulled a backpack and shirt off his body. She saw that he was losing a lot of blood.
White lost at least 1 liter of blood. He was in the intensive care unit for days.
The knife went through the backpack, which was hers and hit a metal clipboard, which caused the knife to slide when it stabbed White.
"The blade went in pretty far. He got my kidney and sliced that pretty bad," White said. "He punctured my liver. That resulted in lots of internal bleeding."
White believes wearing his girlfriend's backpack, with the clipboard inside, saved his life.
"If not for that, it would be pretty likely I would be dead now," he said.
Despite the attack, White said, he will not be moving out of Five Points.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office crime-mapping tool, in the last 28 days, there have been five assaults, including Sunday's attack, reported in the area, but they do not appear to be related.
Police urged people to use caution in the area as the attacker has not yet been found. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 904-630-0500.
White worked at Orsay. The restaurant will be open on Memorial Day to raise money to help White with medical bills.
Anyone wishing to donate now can do so by visiting a GoFundMe page that has been set up for him.