'I wouldn't do it again,' says Manitoba man who was stabbed while stopping intruder

A Niverville, Man. resident says he's thankful to be alive after he was stabbed under his ribcage trying to stop a man from robbing him.

Around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, Mitchell Dux's stepdaughter went to the washroom and noticed there was a light on inside the home's garage. She quickly ran and woke up her dad, Mitch Dux, to let him know that a stranger was rummaging through their stuff. Dux jumped out of bed and ran outside.

• Niverville man stabbed by intruder in garage after checking on noise

"My stepson and I went to the garage. The door was open so I went to the entrance and told him you have been found, you might as well come out," Dux said.

The intruder continued to hide inside Dux's garage, so he called police. Dux walked to the front of his garage and told the man to wait inside.

"He walked out to me at the entrance, we stood there for a bit waiting for the cops. He was very fidgety," Dux said. "I went to turn my head to see where everybody else was and that's when he went to bolt out the door and I grabbed his sweater."

Dux said the man tried to "windmill punch" him before stabbing him underneath his left ribcage with a sharp object.

"Not realizing it, I threw him to the ground and we wrestled a bit, I started losing my grip and I called my stepson out and he took over. I got up and that's when I realized something was wrong," said Dux.

Dux was immediately taken over by intense pain and he started to see a lot of blood.

"I thought I was injured badly. I thought it was serious," Dux said. "At that moment, my wife came out and said ambulance is on the way, police are on the way, took me into the house and put me on the couch."

Dux said the intruder grabbed the weapon he had and ran off, without realizing he had dropped his cellphone on the ground with the flashlight still on.

'Thank my lucky stars'

Dux said he later recognized that the intruder had been a former colleague of his. He said the two got along well, but then lost contact. He doesn't know what prompted the man to rob him.

RCMP say a 20-year-old Niverville man has been charged with break and enter, assault causing bodily harm and breach of undertaking.

While Dux is relieved that charges have been laid, he's now forced to take some time off work while he heals. The cut required him to have a few stitches.

Dux said in hindsight, he probably shouldn't have intervened.

"Phone before you try anything. It's not worth getting stabbed or for that matter getting killed," said Dux. "I just found myself very lucky that nothing more serious could have come from this. I thank my lucky stars. I wouldn't do it again."

RCMP are investigating.