Latest news with #AltonaMeadows
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Shopping centre machete attack victim relives the harrowing moment his arm was allegedly almost HACKED off in unprovoked eshay ambush: 'Don't know how I'll survive'
A man who allegedly had his arm almost chopped off in a machete attack has spoken of his fight for life when a gang of eshays allegedly targeted him in a busy shopping mall. Saurabh Anand, 33, was allegedly set upon by five teenagers in the unprovoked attack in Altona Meadows, in Melbourne 's west ten days ago. As well as almost losing his hand and arm, Mr Anand was allegedly slashed and stabbed in the shoulder and back, and suffered a fractured spine, broken bones in his arm, and head injuries. Doctors initially thought they would have to amputate his left hand, but surgeons were able to reattach it by inserting screws into his wrist and hand during five hours of emergency surgery. 'I am completely broken, mentally, physically and emotionally,' he said on Monday. 'I don't know how I'll survive. I am in constant pain. It is the toughest time in my life - I wouldn't have wished this on my worst enemy.' Mr Anand was at Central Square Shopping Centre to pick up medication and was talking on the phone when the gang of youths allegedly pounced around 7.30pm. He said he had spotted five teenagers sitting on a bench near a cafe outside the shopping centre, but was quickly surrounded as he came out of the pharmacy. One teenager allegedly demanded his phone before another allegedly punched him repeatedly in the head until he fell, breaking his back as he hit the ground The gang then allegedly began punching and kicking him as he lay on the ground before a third teen then allegedly pulled out a machete and held it to his throat. 'He [allegedly] went for my neck, my throat,' he told The Australia Today Facebook page on Monday following his release from hospital after eight days. 'To save myself, I raised my hand up to protect my throat and my arm [allegedly] got completely sliced off - the machete cut all of the muscle, the tendons, the nerves. 'But if the machete had gone through my neck I would not be here today.' Mr Anand said he feared he would die in the alleged attack. He said the first cut allegedly sliced through his hand near his thumb before another almost hacked off his hand at the wrist. 'It wasn't just once, they [allegedly] did it repeatedly,' he said. 'They [allegedly] tried to kill me three or four times. 'My hand was literally hanging off. There was so much blood and so much pain. And he [allegedly] did not stop. He [allegedly] cut through both the bones in my arm. 'The bones were sticking out of my skin.' He said that as he lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood, his attackers then stood on his back and allegedly struck him again on his shoulders. 'I was just trying to survive,' he said. 'I was just tumbling around, half-concussed, half-conscious.' He said he lay there for around half an hour before emergency services arrived to help him. 'For 30 minutes, I kept rolling there, stumbling, trying to save myself, holding my hand and falling down,' he said. 'It was very scary.' He said he begged for help from bystanders but was ignored until one good samaritan finally stepped in to call police before he was rushed to hospital. Several teenagers have now been arrested in connection with the incident. A 14-year-old appeared at a Children's Court this week charged with a spate of offences including intentionally causing serious injury, recklessly causing injury, robbery and unlawful assault. He was remanded in custody until August 15. Two 15-year-olds were also charged with intentionally causing serious injury, robbery and unlawful assault. Police said the two were bailed and will face a Children's Court on August 11. Mr Anand says doctors still don't know how much movement he will have in his hand and arm once his wounds heal. 'There is no certainty about that at all,' he said. He says he now faces financial ruin as he tries to recover, with no income and no support despite having lived in Australia for seven years. 'I have invested in this country, paid my taxes, paid my bills - supported this country in every way, economically or supported the community,' he added. 'But today I am in such a situation as to have nothing to show that anyone or the government will help me. 'I need support and I hope the government will help me. Someone needs to hear the victims. 'It is very easy to defend [alleged] offenders, saying that someone is underage, someone has mental health issues. 'But what about my mental health right now? Who will take care of me at my home? 'I would really like to urge the government of Victoria and the government of Australia to please provide me with physical health support, a physical carer or a mental health support worker. 'I'm really scared to get out of my home. I have nowhere to go. I am completely injured, distorted, disoriented in my head and a completely broken man.' A GoFundMe fundraiser set up to help pay Mr Anand's medical bills has already raised more than $11,000 of a $26,000 target. The fundraiser contains images of Mr Anand in his hospital bed, with his arm in a sling. His friend Kanika, who organised the fundraiser, called on the community to rally behind Mr Anand. 'He's still struggling to come to terms with what a bad ordeal he had to go through,' she said in the appeal. 'In this time, I would urge the community to bring in generous support for him as this would help him to support his medical expenses, while covering for the loss of income from work and recover from his physical injuries and mental distress through rehabilitation. 'Your contribution would help him to recover better without him having to worry about his next dollar as the journey is going to be long to bring it back to normal considering the expenses required for ongoing therapy, counselling , medication and rental expenses are not easy.'
News.com.au
22-07-2025
- News.com.au
Four teenagers arrested after knife attack left man's arm amputated
Police have arrested four teenagers after a knife attack in Melbourne's southwest, which left a man's arm needing to be amputated. Officers were called to the Altona Meadows Central Square Shopping Centre about 8pm on Saturday. It is alleged the victim was approached by a group of males and pushed to the ground, with one of the teens allegedly producing an edged weapon and striking the victim's forearm. The Herald Sun reports the 33-year-old male victim had the lower part of an arm amputated at Royal Melbourne Hospital on Sunday. He is in a serious but non-life-threatening condition. Police allege the teenager then fled the scene with the victim's phone. A 14-year-old boy from the Wyndham area has been charged with intentionally causing serious injury, recklessly causing injury, robbery and unlawful assault. He has been remanded to appear before a children's court. Two 15-year-old boys from the Hobsons Bay area face the same charges and have been released on bail to appear in a children's court at a later date. A 14-year-old boy, also from the Hobsons Bay area, is expected to be charged on summons. Police are continuing to search for a fifth individual believed to be involved in the alleged incident. These latest attacks come amid a spate of knife crimes at Melbourne shopping centres. A major brawl between rival gangs at a northern suburbs shopping centre in May sparked a statewide machete ban, which has already stopped stores selling them but criminalises possessing one as of September 1. Just last Monday, a 44-year-old man was stabbed in the chest and neck outside the Moonee Ponds Central shopping centre. Police said the alleged offender had a history of mental health issues. Barely an hour earlier, a 37-year-old man allegedly pulled a knife at a nearby cafe. After these two Moonee Ponds incidents, Police Minister Anthony Carbines stressed that officers were recently given more power to stop and search people for weapons without a warrant. 'We've seen a record number of edged weapons seized in the past year and that's a demonstration of the work police are doing to disrupt and dismantle crime in the community,' Mr Carbines told reporters last week. In February, two men were stabbed outside a Bunnings in Broadmeadows, allegedly over a pair of stolen headphones.
News.com.au
05-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Couple who queued for eight days to buy Melbourne land sell up
A couple who lined up for eight days to secure their dream plot of land in Altona Meadows are all smiles after selling up four decades later. Saturday's auction of 8 Weeroona Tce was a family affair with their now-grown up daughter, Ray White Williamstown director Joanne Royston, acting as the listing agent for her childhood home. Ms Royston was aged 13 years old when her parents Loretta and David bought the block where they built a four-bedroom home. She recalled her mum and dad enlisting her grandmother Nesta and their friends to help take turns while lining up for the land, in 1984. 'They slept in cars and had chairs to hold their place in the queue,' Ms Royston said. Her parents were keen on the block because it backs onto a park. Saturday's auction saw four bidders compete for the abode. The house sold for $906,000, a sum slightly higher than the $800,000-$880,000 asking range. 'A young family bought the house, they love the location,' Ms Royston said. 'A gate opens from the property to the park where there's a soccer club, netball and basketball courts, flora and fauna walks and a BMX track.' Her treasured family memories include walking in the park with her parents and younger brother, Travis, who now works with her at Ray White – while the auctioneer was fellow agency director Dean Stanley. 'We were both born a day apart at Footscray Hospital and our mothers are very close friends,' Ms Royston said. She said that her parents were planning on moving into a retirement village unit, where her father was looking forward to having a much smaller garden. And a first-home buyer family has an extra reason to enjoy their interstate holiday after scoring a Caroline Springs house for $920,000 on Saturday. The four-bedroom home at 14 Caddick Gardens was listed with a $700,000-$750,000 range but soared above price hopes thanks to five keen bidders who participated in the auction. Calder Real Estate Agents Delahey's Mo Safatli said that a couple with two primary-school aged children claimed the keys, just before they were due to fly to Queensland for some time off. 'They did say to me that it would be extra special if they bought the house,' Mr Safatli said The wife was too nervous to attend the auction so she waited around the corner while she husband did the bidding. About 50 people, consisting of 19 buyer groups and their friends and relatives, attended the pre-auction inspection. A $700,000 bid kicked off the main event, conducted by auctioneer Andy Reid. The auction lasted for eight to 10 minutes and bids came in so quickly that Mr Safatli only had a chance to consult with the owners around the $870,000 mark to confirm that the property was on the market. The vendors, who had kept the house as an investment property for the past 15 years or so, had repainted and installed new carpets prior to putting the home on the market. Mr Safatli said that some houses in his region of Melbourne's western suburbs did surpass their listed ranges by hundreds of thousands at auctions, once in a while. 'It does happen sometimes, I think with this one the fact that it was presented immaculately made all the difference,' he said. And he has noticed buyers becoming more competitive since the Reserve Bank lowered Australia's cash rate in February and May, which widely led to lowered interstate rates. 'The mindset is of them buying today before it (prices) go up tomorrow,' Mr Safatli said.
