Stabbing Victim Who Walked Into McDonald's Tells CBS 2: 'I'm Blessed'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man who walked into a Queens McDonald's on Tuesday with a knife sticking out of his back says he's grateful the stabbing didn't cut his life short.
"I didn't get lucky. I'm blessed," Andrew Hardy told CBS 2's Jessica Schneider through the door of his home Wednesday.
"It didn't hit anything, fortunately," Hardy said. "It probably hit my shoulder blade, and that probably was the extent of it. And the blade went sort of upwards, so it looked like it was deeper than it actually was."
Hardy said he was stabbed during a fight at the corner of Archer Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. He claims someone lunged at him, he punched back, and then someone plunged the knife into him.
Hardy then walked a half-block to the McDonald's, where he used his cellphone to called his daughter.
"I knew if I would've panicked, I probably would've started bleeding more," he said. "So I kept my cool, talked to my daughter, tried to explain to my daughter what happened."
Photos show Hardy inside the restaurant wearing a white T-shirt stained in blood.
Shocked customers rushed to his aid to make sure he didn't fall onto his back until emergency responders arrived.
Hardy was treated at and released from Jamaica Hospital Medical Center on Tuesday, Schneider reported.
"It came close to hitting my lung, one of my lungs, but I'm fortunate enough to have that not happen," he said. "But I'm in pain simply because metal hit my bone."
Police said Wednesday that Hardy is being uncooperative with investigators.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce told WCBS 880's Rich Lamb that the victim has multiple arrests on his record.
At least four people were involved in the dispute on the street, police said.
"Only he got stabbed," Boyce said.
Despite that Hardy is not cooperating, police told CBS 2 they are confident they'll be able to identify a suspect and make an arrest.
You May Also Be Interested In These Stories
(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)