Daniel speaking to reporters nearly a year after the horrific incident.
KOTA KINABALU: Daniel Broadhurst, the Australian who was slashed in the head by a machete nearly a year ago, is grateful that he is still alive today.
On January 24 this year, Daniel, who runs a homestay business in Kg Kiwoi, Tamparuli, nearly lost his life after an illegal immigrant named Roy Samad Totong had slashed him three times on his head and two times on his hands.
It was believed that the two had an altercation shortly before the incident, which led Roy to attack Daniel from behind, as the latter was about to get on his motorcycle.
Roy then fled the scene, leaving Daniel lying on his own pool of blood.
Luckily for Daniel, he was found by a villager who then rushed him to hospital.
Earlier this week, the 47-year-old spoke to reporters to give his side of the story and to express his gratitude towards those who had helped him in his journey to recovery.
He said that the injuries he suffered on that fateful day had given him long-term problems.
“I’ll have long-term problems. I probably may not be able to drive again. My vision is never going to be a hundred per cent,” said Daniel.
He said that he could no longer see below his nose and his left part. His depth perception was affected by the attack.
During the interview, he demonstrated how completing a simple task such as grabbing a cup could be difficult for him due to his impaired vision.
After going for numerous eye assessments both here in Sabah and in Australia, the results had constantly shown that Daniel now has permanent partial vision.
Fortunately, his eyeballs are fine so he could still see and scan things.
“I also have cognitive problems now, which means that I have problems with my brain,” he said.
“A good example would be keywords. So if I’m having a conversation and I’m trying to remember a word, it would be too slow for me to do so. I’ll get the answer but it will come too late.
“…And if you ask me two or three things like ‘Daniel, do this and this’, I will get confused…I can’t take multiple instructions,” he explained.
He used to be able to fix any issues regarding plumbing in his orchard; however, due to the injury, he could no longer do that now.
Commenting on how the injury had affected his homestay business, Daniel said that he now has to plan things more thoroughly and carefully now that he has cognitive problems.
“Now I have to micromanage everything and keep notes,” he said.
When asked whether he felt lucky to be alive, Daniel said: “I have to be. I know I almost died. I’m a very lucky guy”.
Another thing that really worried Daniel was the potential infection that he could have suffered from the incident.
The doctors warned him that the wounds he suffered were really dirty.
Thankfully, after all the scans and stiches that he had, it was found out that the wounds were indeed clean.
He even had to go to the Royal Malaysian Navy (TLDM) base in Sepanggar to speed up his recovery.
For two weeks, he had to undergo around eight to nine oxygen treatment sessions every morning where he would be sent 10 meters underwater.
During the interview, Daniel thanked his neurosurgeon, Dr Mohd Sofan Zenian, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the district police for their help.
He pointed out that the police were really helpful, as they had frequently checked on him in the hospital.
Daniel has been living in Sabah for 17 years now.
He has been married to a local Sabahan for 25 years.