Woman saved by her £5 Primark scarf after being stabbed in the neck by maniac

A WOMAN who was stabbed 11 times by a maniac attacker was saved by her £5 Primark scarf which was wrapped around her beck.

Alexandra Vignon, 25, an aspiring bikini fitness model, was knifed in the throat by depraved James Thomas during a pre-meditated attack in Southend, Essex.

Thomas, 24, was jailed for 16 years last month for attempted murder and possession of a four-inch blade.

Alexandra says that her life was saved by her scarf, which was bought for £5 at high street store Primark, which prevented the knife from cutting major arteries in her neck.

She told the Sunday Mirror: “It was a last-minute decision to put that scarf on, but a life-saving one.

“I should have died that day. There was blood everywhere.

“Doctors said I was lucky I’d wrapped up.”

The attacker had fantasised about stabbing a random, innocent person to death for 10-years, a court heard.

I should have died that day. There was blood everywhere

He purchased the blade at TK Maxx and selected Alexandra when he spotted her on her day job as a door-to-door marketer in Southend.

Thomas stabbed her in the neck, shoulders, cheek, arms, back and breast before fleeing the scene as a car stopped to help.

She said doctors found the knife “sticking out of my clothes” adding it had only gone “a few centimetres deep.”

Brave Alexandra underwent four hours of surgery Whitechapel Hospital, East London where the weapon was removed from her body.

She said medics told her that her winter clothing, including her coat and backpack, provided extra protection which, along with her lucky scarf, saved her life.

After handing himself in, Thomas was jailed at Basildon Crown Court in February.

Alexandra still suffers from numbness on the right side of her face and neck due to nerve damage and uses daily pain relief.

But she has returned to work and still intends to pursue her career as a model despite her scars.

She said: “I refuse to hide them. James Thomas ruined his life, not mine. I have big plans.”