The night Brett Connolly was stabbed is one his family will never forget.

The Mitcham man was walking home when he stopped to talk to a neighbour in Rock Close.

It was at this moment that five men set upon him and left him fighting for his life.

His mum Felicity thought she had lost him.

"When he was brought into hospital I was told he was technically dead," she told the Wimbledon Times.

He underwent a six-hour lifesaving surgery but the aftermath of the attack has left him a changed man.

"Brett suffered devastating injuries," Felicity continued.

"His throat was lacerated, he can't move his toes because he was stabbed in the leg and the nerve damage to his eyes means that one is now permanently open."

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What makes things even harder is that Brett, a father to a five-year-old boy named Riley, wasn't the intended victim of the shocking attack.

"Nobody knows why he was the target," Felicity added.

"It’s the mental part which is worse because he can’t wrap his head around why this happened to him.

"For someone who is not involved in gangs or drugs, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The fact he was not the intended target was something police confirmed while adding that no arrests had been made since the attack in July.

It's not been easy for Riley either.

"His whole summer holiday was taken up with dad in hospital and having to stay with different members of the family," Felicity said.

"We had to tell him his dad was in a car accident because how do you try and explain what happened to a child.

"He loves and adores his dad but can see the changes."

His family are raising money to get therapy for Brett. Click here to view the GoFundMe page.

A fully fledged engineer, Brett hasn't been able to work since the attack. Although his boss said that a job will be waiting for him when he is able to return, that doesn't pay the bills in the meantime.

This is something that has taken a toll on his mental health.

"Brett has been very low," Felicity said.

"He's worked all his life, he'd been to college, done a plumbing degree and deep down he just wants to get back to work.

"We've been told that there could be a five-month wait for therapy on the NHS - no fault of theirs - so now we're trying to get private counselling because he needs it now."

This led her to start a GoFundMe page that has already raised more than £1,800 at the time of publishing this story.

"You’re used to having a wage coming in but that’s not really happening," Felicity added.

"He's suffering from PTSD now and every bit of money will help support him."