A heroic cop who was stabbed while trying to arrest a paedophile has spoken publicly for the first time since his near-death ordeal.
Detective Sergeant John Breda, 45, suffered a number of internal injuries after Nick Newman, 33, knifed him during Australia Day celebrations earlier this year at the Maroubra Junction Hotel.
Newman was then shot dead in a volley of bullets from Sergeant Breda’s colleagues.
Heroic cop Sergeant John Breda, 45, (pictured) was stabbed twice by paedophile Nick Newman, 33, while trying to arrest him
The decorated policeman and his fellow officers had been planning to arrest Newman, who was wanted by police after failing to attend Penrith Court two days earlier facing multiple child sex charges.
But despite the entire blade up to the handle being inserted through his kidney, liver, diaphragm and lungs, a dedicated team of surgeons were able to save the loving father.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, the detective said it was a ‘miracle I’m still here’ and added he wouldn’t be alive were it not for the doctors who treated him during his 21-day spell in hospital.
Newman (pictured) was wanted by police after failing to attend Penrith Court two days earlier facing multiple child sex charges
Sergeant Breda called for help after he was stabbed by Newman at a Sydney pub (pictured bystanders coming to rescue)
Incredibly, Sergeant Breda is now fighting fit again thanks to a regimented rehabilitation schedule.
He said: ‘Bad things happen to people, to everyone of us in life. But you will come out the other side.
The top detective also told the newspaper his time in hospital in January was the first time he had been admitted in his life.
Bystander Brett Douglas (pictured) applied pressure to Sergeant Breda’s wounds while the attacker Nick Newman was in the beer garden cutting his own throat
Sergeant Breda was also the guest of honour at a gala St Vincent’s Hospital on Saturday – the same hospital where his life was saved – to help raise funds for a new $9.3 million emergency room.
Dr Emily Granger, who was one the surgeons who worked on Sergeant Breda during an intense six-hour operation, said the new facilities would have meant doctors could have treated his complex injuries earlier.
She told the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘It certainly would have been much easier to identify where the bleeding point was … resuscitation would have been far easier in a RAPTOR theatre.’
Sergeant Breda lost his entire blood supply three times over the course of the operation, as porters rushed to supply the operating theatre with blood bags.
The detective can also be thankful to the heroic patrons who came to his rescue in the immediate aftermath of the stabbing.
‘The police officer saw me through the window, through the door and screamed at me, ”come out, help me, I’ve been stabbed twice, put pressure on my wound’,” bystander Brett Douglas told 7 News in the days after the attack.
Footage shows Mr Douglas, wearing shorts and thongs, kneeling on the ground to help stem the bleeding of the detective at the busy hotel.
‘He was lying on the ground and he was just covered in blood and had the knife underneath his throat and was just kinda, like not a hundred miles an hour, trying to dig it into his throat,’ Mr Douglas said.
Witnesses heard someone shouting ‘shoot’ in Mandarin before Sgt Breda’s fellow officers opened fire, according to The Daily Telegraph.
‘One thing was clear, there was no way that guy was going to jail,’ a law enforcement source told the paper.
Confronting footage of the immediate aftermath reveals how the busy bar was sent into complete panic.
Customers can be seen rushing towards the beer garden where the officer laid, suffering from stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.
The attack launched crowds into full hysteria as some rushed towards the scene, while others evacuated the area.
‘F*** me dead there’s a copper down mate,’ one man can be heard saying in the clip released by Nine News, with another adding, ‘he’s been shot’.
Witness, Oliver Lynch (pictured), was enjoying a beer and a cigarette in the garden when the drama unfolded
An officer can be heard yelling ‘do not move’, while another firmly instructs onlookers to ‘call an ambulance’.
Witness, Oliver Lynch, was enjoying a beer and a cigarette in the garden when the drama unfolded.
‘They were holding his stomach…rolling around. I was kind of in a small bit of shock,’ he said.
The loving father and decorated detective John Breda, 45, (left) survived a six-hour surgery in hospital after he was stabbed twice by wanted sex offender Nick Newman
‘I was looking at him and there was people bringing tissues, the people who worked in the hotel, they were really good. They were putting pressure on (the injuries).’
‘Before I even smoked my cigarette there was a fella stabbed, and before the cigarette was finished there was a fella shot as well.’
‘And then just like that, there was about a hundred cops storming the building.’
The devoted father and policeman (right) underwent emergency surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital as his devastated wife, Kim, (left) arrived to be by his bedside under police escort
Photos show the devoted father spending time with his two children and wife as well as enjoying baking pastries in the kitchen (pictured)
The veteran of the Child Abuse and Sex Crime Squad was awarded the police force’s highest honour in 2015, the National Medal (pictured) by the prime minister
‘Obviously we are not medical experts but we have spoken to them,’ he said.
‘They are comfortable with his progress so far however he is by no means out of danger.’
Sergeant Breda is a veteran of the Child Abuse and Sex Crime Squad has spent time in the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad and was awarded one of the police force’s highest honours.
In 2015, the 45-year-old was given the National Medal by the Prime Minister.
The hero detective was stabbed by Newman at the Maroubra Junction Hotel (pictured)