Kieran Quinlan was only 17 years old when he was attacked at a bus stop one night after clocking out of his part-time job in Topman. Wondering when the next bus was due to arrive, he (like most people) whipped out his phone to see if he could find the bus schedule…but unlike most people, Kieran was attacked by a man attempting to steal his phone. The unnamed assailant eventually wound up stabbing him through the heart after Kieran put up a fight. Via Daily Mail,
‘I was slumped on a chair and my vision was going black and closing in on me.
‘Another passenger had called an ambulance and was keeping pressure on my chest with her hands.‘When the paramedics finally arrive I was just repeating my name, repeating my address and thinking, “I’m going to die”.’
Kieran, who had been a semi-professional boxer, was stabbed through the heart, aorta and left lung and after he’d been taken to A&E, his heart stopped three times.
He recalled: ‘It was like an episode of Holby City…
According to Kieran he felt “vulnerable’ after the attack which caused him to begin training in the gym. Hard. After the assault in 2010 he dropped one third of his body weight, but looking at him today you’d never guess it – he’s bulked up to 217 pounds of almost pure muscle.
‘After the attack, I was so weak I couldn’t pour myself a cup of tea and I had a horrible scar on my chest.
‘I didn’t want anyone to see it – now I’ve got over that and am stronger than ever…’
Kieran decided to enter his first ever bodybuilding competition, coming second in the hotly-contested ‘body transformation’ category of the Pure Elite event in Manchester.
Kieran says that body building has helped him to view his experience in a new light and move on.
He said: ‘Competing for the first time finally gave me some clarity over what he had been through.
‘I now see the scar as a badge of honour to show what I’ve managed to overcome.(via)
Kieran has since gone on to place in multiple fitness competitions, including “Pure Elite,” one of the fastest growing muscle model competitions in Europe.
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[H/T Daily Mail]