A man who walked into a McDonald's in New York with a knife sticking out of his back after apparently being stabbed in a fight is in a serious condition in hospital.

Horrified customers were left stunned when the man, in his fifties, calmly walked into the restaurant in a blood-soaked T-shirt before collapsing.

The victim had reportedly managed to walk a block following a scuffle on the street and entered the restaurant, in the neighbourhood of Jamaica in Queens, New York, while talking on the phone.

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“I heard everybody screaming and it was a lot of commotion,” Tromaine Yancey, 27, a witness, told CBS New York. “The guy came and he was standing there with a knife in his back and it was a kitchen knife.”

According to passers-by, a number of men were seen fighting on the street corner just moments earlier, in the 10am incident on Tuesday.

Customers reportedly came to the man’s aid to make sure he didn’t faint while still having the knife lodged in his back.

“He was on the phone, I’m pretty sure he was on the phone talking to somebody in his family or a loved one or something, he was talking to them and telling them it might be the last time he’s speaking to them,” eyewitness Mr Yancey added.

He was later taken to Jamaica Hospital and is in a serious condition.

The restaurant was closed for an hour as police undertook an investigation, and are appealing for two men to come forward who are believed to have fled the scene.

In a video given to ABC7, members of the public can be seen taking pictures of the wound while trying to talk to the man, who was still on the phone seemingly saying his final goodbyes.