Machete attack survivor: ‘I remember him coming at me’

ATHENS, Ga. — The survivor of a machete attack in Athens is preparing to return home next month.

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Doctors have been treating Chris Sullens in Atlanta since June 20.

Channel 2 Action News has been following his progress since he was on life support at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Now, clinicians are treating him at the Shepherd Center in Buckhead. That is a facility that specializes in brain injuries.

Saturday, Sullens was able to tell Channel 2′s Courtney Francisco about the life-changing machete attack himself.

“I remember the day, how it happened,” said Sullens. “I remember him coming at me.”

Sullens said he’d just spoken to a client, Cedric Smith, about drinking on the property.

“One of my employees asked him to go talk to him because he wasn’t listening to her,” said Sullens. “He said, ‘No problem. I understand.’ A while later, I went outside to go to my car, and he kind of came from nowhere. He said, ‘Why are you picking on me?

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Then, Sullens said Smith began hitting him in the head with the machete.

The ambush left Sullens on a ventilator with a broken skull and brain trauma. Doctors had to remove one of his eyes.

Sullens’ mother, Wanda Aycock, recalled praying on her way to Grady Memorial Hospital.

“God let him live, just let him live. We’ll deal with whatever we have to deal with, That was my prayer, and he did,” said Aycock.

She praised the doctors, nurses and therapists who have treated him. She said the trauma has been a reminder of the important things in life.

“He is my hero. He is my hero,” said Aycock.

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Sullens admits he is worried he may never be able to work again but hopes to find another way to give back.

“I’m still here because there’s something I got to do. I still feel like that has got something to do with helping other people,” said Sullens.

He said friends have set up a fundraiser to help him with bills when he gets home, and he is stunned by the outpouring of support.

“I’ll be going back in just a few weeks, and I hope that my coworkers and friends and family, we can get together and just celebrate,” said Sullens.

If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe, click here.

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