A man injured in Tuesday’s sword attack in Hainault has opened up about the experience from his hospital bed.
Henry De Los Rios Polania, 35, is recovering at the Royal London Hospital after being stabbed in his own home on Tuesday morning in a rampage that left three other people injured, and 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin killed.
The attacker is said to have broken into the Hainault home where the IT engineer was asleep along with his partner and young daughter we, before attacking him.
In a post on his Instagram story, Mr De Los Rios Polania shared a photograph of him in his hospital bed.
He wrote: "I would like to start by thanking all the nurses, paramedics, and the doctors on the NHS for keeping me alive.”
He also thanked police for their “great work” in apprehending the suspect “and for risking their lives”, and the emergency responders who came to his aid “so I didn’t bleed out, and [kept] me alive”.
“Thank you God for giving me the strength to protect my family I’m blessed,” he added.
"I'm recovering. I have a long journey ahead but I'm very positive that this trauma will end soon.”
Mr De Los Rios Polania’s sister previously told how he acted as a “hero”, protecting his family from being attacked.
Jessica De Los Rios, 31, said her brother sustained a deep wound to his hand in the incident.
“It’s a very long process to get his hand recovered, due to this wound,” she said, adding that he “lost a lot of blood” and “it’s going to be a really long, traumatising recovery for him”.
“He’s very devastated to believe something like this could happen,” she said. “To us, he’s our hero. He protected them – my niece and my sister-in-law.
“They were just literally sleeping, opened their eyes to see a man with a big machete sword.
“He felt helpless in the moment, but to us he is our hero. It could have been extremely worse.”
Ms De Los Rios said her brother’s family “haven’t been able to sleep” since the incident, and are likely to move from their home.
“It’s unbelievable. These kind of things you see on the news and you never think it could happen to you,” she said.
“Unfortunately I don’t think they will want to go back into the house and live there again.
“It’s been extremely hard to take in such a horrific situation.”
Marcus Aurelio Arduini Monzo, 36, of Newham, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article, following Tuesday’s attack.
He appeared in court on Thursday.
It is alleged that Monzo crashed a van into a fence in Laing Close just before 7am on Tuesday, hitting a member of the public, Donato Iwule.
The court was told that he then got out of the van, said that he would kill the man and slashed him to the neck.
Prosecutor David Burns told the court that 15 minutes later it is alleged Monzo broke into a nearby home where Mr De Los Rios Polania and his partner were asleep with their four-year-old daughter.
He went into the bedroom and attacked Mr De Los Rios Polania, shouting about believing in God and causing injuries to his neck and arm, it is alleged.
Monzo is accused of then running up behind Daniel and slashing his neck, before stabbing him in the chest as he lay on the ground.
Police officers arrived and tried to help the teenager, when it is alleged that Monzo appeared from a bush and they chased him.
The court was told that he jumped out at Pc Yasmin Margaret Mechem-Whitfield and attacked her with the sword while she was on the ground.
He is also accused of injuring a second officer, Inspector Moloy Elec Campbell.
Monzo has been charged with attempting to murder Mr Iwule and PC Mechem-Whitfield, and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr De Los Rios Polania and Inspector Campbell.
He has also been charged with aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article.
Daniel, 14, was a pupil at £23,000-a-year Bancroft’s School - the same school Nottingham attack victim Grace O’Malley-Kumar had attended before university.
A fundraiser launched to help the beloved teenager’s grief-stricken family had by Friday raised more than £95,000, donated by more than 5,000 people.
