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A tradesman who came to the aid of a stabbed woman said he distracted an alleged attacker long enough for her to grab the knife and throw it onto the footpath, likely saving her life.
Helen Coulston, 46, is in a critical but stable condition in hospital after the daylight attack at the home on Weonga Road in Dover Heights, one of Sydney’s most exclusive addresses.
Helen Coulston is in hospital after she was stabbed by a man who came to her door on Monday. Credit:Edwina Pickles, Facebook
Builder Peter Haramis, 37, was eating lunch on a nearby block with two concreters when they heard the woman’s screams and began walking, then running up the hill as the sounds became more panicked.
Coulston was screaming, “help me, help me, he’s gonna kill me”, he said.
When he arrived at the triple-level home, the woman was doubled over at her door with a man standing over her.
Police confirmed Coulston’s attacker was not her husband Walt, but said the man was known to her.
“He sort of, he looked at me and he froze… so I thought to myself, this is it, I think I have to fight him here,” Haramis said.
But just as he was about to start running towards the man, Coulston took advantage of the split second her attacker had stopped.
“She grabbed the knife and threw it past me onto the footpath,” Haramis said.
Builder Pete Haramis who came to the aid of an alleged stabbing victim in Sydney’s east.
He was able to pick up the knife, which had “about four centimetres of blood” along it, and Coulston ran inside her house and locked the door.
Her injuries were clear under her white shirt, Haramis said. “You could see red, she was bleeding”.
The builder said he told the man “there’s no way you’re getting this knife mate… then the guy just calmly turns around, starts walking up the hill towards his car.”
The man was tall and looked “a bit sloppy” in a grey tracksuit, Haramis said.
“He just had this stone-cold look to his face, there was no emotion to him.”
Paramedics were able to stabilise the woman before she was taken by road to St Vincent’s Hospital in a critical condition.
It wasn’t long before police surrounded her alleged attacker, a 46-year-old man, who had driven his white Audi vehicle to Campbell Parade at Bondi.
He was arrested at gunpoint and taken to Waverley police station where he has been assisting detectives with inquiries.
A neighbour said Coulston and her husband had only recently moved to the salubrious cul de sac, which overlooks the ocean.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Giles Buchanan said it was a “very traumatic scene to arrive at with a significant, life-threatening stab wound”.
“Paramedics administered IV fluids, stemmed the bleeding and provided pain relief to stabilise the patient.”
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