A man collapsed in the street with life-threatening wounds to his neck after an apparent attack with a bladed article.

Members of the public came to his aid as he lay bleeding heavily near Four Star Pizza, Somerset Road, Sandys.

The 50-year-old victim, from Sandys, was taken by ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, remains in a stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit today. Two men were arrested yesterday afternoon in connection with the incident.

Staff at the pizza restaurant said they had been in the rear of the establishment preparing for business at the time of the 10.30am attack, and knew nothing of it until the authorities arrived.

Four Star president Marico Thomas told The Royal Gazette: “It was totally unrelated to us — there is a bit of activity happening further west of us from time to time. It’s not unusual to read in the paper of incidents happening.

“This was a bit closer to home. Our staff feel it’s an unfortunate thing, and it’s unfortunate as well that there seems to be recurring activity in the West End.

“We have conversations repeatedly about the element that exists, and the need to ensure that we follow our safety protocols. It’s very unfortunate that this seems to be more of a regular occurrence in our society.

“There was a time when I would tell friends visiting that they would laugh at our news because it was all just community stories, but lately it has been gunplay, knifeplay and bad behaviour.

“We have seen this decline over a number of years and it’s not getting smaller; it seems to be accelerating.”

Area MP Kim Wilson voiced hope that the victim would make a full recovery. “It is also pleasing and encouraging to hear that persons in the area did what they could to provide assistance to the victim,” she said.

“For their actions, we owe them our gratitude.

“However, it goes without saying that when people resort to violence as a means of addressing conflict, it’s often symptomatic of larger systemic issues within our community, such as economic and social factors, which are causing our communities to become more divided, causing a generation of young people to feel hopeless.

“We should be investing in our community from every angle. The same zeal being exerted to host the America’s Cup must equally be provided to identifying solutions to address the root causes of such inexcusable violence.”

A stretch of Somerset Road was closed off, with traffic diverted to Sound View Road, while forensic officers checked the scene and scanned through adjacent yards.

A police spokesman added: “Any witnesses or persons with information regarding the origin of this incident or the identity of the perpetrator should contact the main police telephone number 295-0011, or the independent and confidential Crime Stoppers hotline 800-8477, at the earliest opportunity.”