A man has been charged over the stabbing of a man outside a mosque that police said was a hate crime.
Dr Nassar Kurdy was set upon outside the Altrincham Islamic Centre in Grove Lane in the Greater Manchester market town on Sunday, in what police called a “very nasty and unprovoked attack”.
He “felt an injury to the back of his neck” as he was walking to the centre and ran in before calling the emergency services.
The 58-year-old told the Manchester Evening News on Monday that he is “very grateful” that he wasn’t more seriously injured, adding: “I could not have been here today.
He also said he forgave his attacker.
Kurdy, who helped victims in the wake of the Manchester Arena bombing, said neither he or his wife, or their children, had any ill feelings towards those responsible.
Greater Manchester Police has said Ian Anthony Rook, 28, of no fixed abode, has been charged in connection with the stabbing.
He was charged with a grievous bodily harm and possession of a lethal weapon.
He will appear in Manchester City Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
A second man who was arrested has been released without charge.