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This article was published 5/2/2015 (2052 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Save the life of a stranger and risk paying with your own life.

That’s the situation being faced by a Winnipeg man who has endured several attempts on his life and barely survived an attack in his own home when he had his throat slashed, was beaten with a baseball bat and was stabbed multiple times in his body and face, nearly losing his right eye.

The Good Samaritan — we’ll call him Sam — declined to use his real name or allow his face to be shown for this story as he believes there are others out there who want him dead.

The Jan. 12 attack ended when Sam, clutching his neck where he had been slashed, and bleeding from his eye where he had been stabbed, was tackled and fell through the front window of his shared house on Mountain Avenue and landed on the front lawn.

"A paramedic just happened to be driving by. I was lying out there close to bleeding to death. The guy told me if he hadn’t found me when he did, I would be dead," Sam said.

He was taken to hospital in critical condition and later upgraded to stable.

"This was a hit. This is something I wouldn’t wish upon anybody," Sam said.

Sam stepped in on May 18, 2014, to help a woman who was being beaten by a man during a domestic incident at a McDonald’s restaurant parking lot at Notre Dame Avenue and McPhillips Street. The man turned his attack on Sam, who hit him only once but the man, Marlon Dean Laronde, 33, died several days later in hospital. The police and Crown attorney cleared Sam of any charges, saying he "intervened for the purpose of assisting another individual."

Sam said he has since become the target of a contracted hit.

"All this just for stepping in and helping someone," Sam said.

Now Sam is homeless, can’t see out of his right eye, has limited feeling in his right leg, severe back pain, stitches in his neck and needs crutches to walk. He has no vehicle — his truck was impounded by police after the incident.

After he was released from hospital on Jan. 27, just a day before his 46th birthday, Sam was living in a temporary safe house arranged by the Men’s Resource Centre.

He has been told by the victim services organization that he can’t stay there anymore.

"I can’t go home. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now," he said.

On Monday, he stopped by his North End house to pick up a few things and was confronted by several males who roared up to the house in a luxury vehicle. He said they threatened him and his girlfriend, to whom he has not spoken since she was arrested on Jan. 14 and detained in custody. The men told him that his girlfriend "...better keep her f---ing mouth shut and you’re both f---ing dead anyway."

Sam became emotional when he talked about his girlfriend, wiping away tears, saying he loved her with all his heart and that they were talking about getting married. He said she warned him in weeks prior she thought "something bad is going to happen" and refused to leave his side.

He is haunted by memories of that night.

Sam said he doesn’t know whether the police are investigating the threats against him. Officers told him to "stay low."

But he doesn’t wish away his choice to be a Good Samaritan.

"It’s terrible what happened (Laronde’s death) and I wish it didn’t. But that lady would have died. I had to do something," he said.

Two people are charged in the attack on Sam.

Sheldon Brent Maytwayashing, 38, was arrested in Jan. 26 and charged with attempted murder, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and two counts of failing to comply with a probation order.

His sister, Wanda Theresa Maytwayashing, 40, was arrested Jan. 14 and charged with attempted murder and failing to comply with the conditions of a recognizance.

The pair was detained in custody.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca