Woman stabbed in home invasion thanks ‘hero’ husband for saving her life
A woman stabbed in a terrifying home invasion near the NSW-Queensland border last week has thanked her hero husband for saving her life.
Keith and Di Blessing, both aged in their 70s, were inside their home in Torrington, south-west of Tenterfield, just after midnight on Thursday when 34-year-old Joshua Dylan Trethewey allegedly entered and stabbed them both with a knife.
Keith, 75, was able to fend the alleged attacker off with a knife before shooting him when he attempted to re-enter the property.
In a statement today, Di said she had been discharged from hospital on the Gold Coast to receive outpatient care.
She said Keith was stable and had been transferred from intensive care to a ward for ongoing care for internal organ damage.
She described the attack as a “nightmare” and a “horrific incident has left us shattered”.
“I want to thank my husband, my hero,” she said.
“There can surely be no greater love than shielding and protecting a loved one.
“Without him, I believe I would not be alive today.”
She also thanked her daughters and their families for putting their lives on hold to support them.
“This nightmare has taken its toll on them, too and all of their lives will be forever changed,” she said.
She thanked first responders who “responded quickly and professionally to a situation of unknown danger to themselves”, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter teams who “landed in a paddock with unknown obstacles in the blackness of night”, and the emergency doctors “for their caring surgical, medical, and professional support”.
“We owe them our lives,” she said.
She said all staff at the Gold Coast University Hospital had been “professional and caring, making the start of the long journey of healing so very much easier for us”.
“In fact, we have been overwhelmed, completely blown away and comforted, by the messages and support of hundreds of people – the media, hospital staff, strangers – all rallying behind us,” she said.
“Our local community at Torrington have also supported us and our family.”
She said all donations received by the family would be donated to Westpac Rescue Helicopters.
“I would urge you to please consider giving a little something to this wonderful service, it may be a loved one who needs it one day,” she said.
Trethewey has been charged with two counts of wounding with intent to murder and faces the prospect of up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
