A 28-year-old man is fighting for his life after being set upon by a gang of machete-wielding attackers.

The horrific assault happened in broad daylight on Parson?s Road in Pembroke yesterday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses at the scene said the victim was ?completely chopped? by four men as he tried to escape on a motorcycle following a chase.

Parks Officer Craig Burt ? who is also a First Aid instructor ? was one of the first on the scene and was able to treat the man?s wounds before an ambulance arrived.

?All of a sudden we heard a guy screaming ?Help me, help me?,? Mr. Burt, who was accompanied by a colleague, said.

?He was wandering in the middle of the road. I started running towards him. He had a white vest on that was covered in blood and he had a white shirt around his hand.

?Once I got to him I saw he had major wounds. Basically, he had a deep laceration in his head that was eight to nine inches long on the left hand side.

?Also both arms in the forearm area had deep cuts half-an-inch deep by six to seven inches long.

?His right small finger was avulsed ? almost completely severed. It was just attached by thin skin. He had been completely chopped. I admitted first aid to the head wound.?

Mr. Burt?s colleague, who did not wish to be named, said spectators ?were running onto the road to help?.

?It was the injuries we were worried about,? she said.

?There was a big gash on his head, deep into his skull. There was a lot of blood. One of his fingers was close to being amputated.?

The victim was rushed to hospital where he underwent an operation lasting severeal hours. Last night he was in a critical but stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

One spectator said the fight began near her house.

?It started in Deep Dale. They chased him on his bike and chopped him in the head with a machete,? she said.

?He dropped his bike there? she said pointing to the location of the collapsed cycle.

?He was chopped and got off his bike and ran screaming down the road. It looked real bad. He had blood all over. He must have put up his hand as if to defend himself, you know, because one of his fingers was hanging?.

Another eyewitness said her son saw the blood curdling scene unfolding outside her window.

?He was the one who saw it and said, ?Mommy, Police?.

?I grew up in this neighbourhood but it is getting worse. I can?t even take my child to the playground in the park ? it?s a sunny day. I could have been outside with my boy, but this is not something I want my baby to see?.

Last night a Police spokesman said that two men were helping Police with their inquiries, although no arrests had been made.

And he appealed for any members of the public who had information about the attack to come forward.

?Around 2.20 p.m. yesterday, Police attended a reported disturbance on Deep Dale Road East in Pembroke,? the spokesman said.

?It appears that the victim, a 28-year-old St. George?s man, was chased by a group of men who caught and assaulted him on Parson?s Road.

?The victim received serious lacerations to the head and was taken to KEMH via ambulance for treatment.

?He is currently in critical condition at the hospital?s Intensive Care Unit.

?Two men are assisting Police with inquiries into this incident.

?Police are appealing for any witnesses to this incident or anyone with any information to contact the Hamilton Criminal Investigation Unit on 295-0011.?