The condition of the American tourist who was stabbed on Front Street last October has taken a sudden turn for the worse.

Scott Jable, from Illinois, was vacationing in Bermuda last October when he was stabbed from behind while shopping with his wife Christine and infant son, Cole. The 38-year-old sales manager was air-lifted to a hospital in Chicago that same day.

Bermudian Lorenzo Robinson, 22, was arrested and charged with attempted murder following the incident.

Although he initially appeared to have made a full recovery from the attack, Mr. Jable now faces the prospect of extensive surgery after complications developed from his wound.

Speaking from a Chicago hospital bed last night, Mr. Jable said:"Everything was going so well. Then around Christmas time the pain was increasing, my mobility was getting worse."

Mr. Jable underwent an MRI scan and an infection was discovered at the point where the six-inch knife had chipped one of the vertebrae in his spine.

"Two of the vertebrae, the disc in between them, and part of the muscle are all infected," he said.

What course of action will be taken is still up in the air, said Mr. Jable, however two options are being considered.

The first, more radical option requires two operations: one to remove the infected area of vertebrae, disc, and infected muscle. The second, three weeks later, would graft a piece of bone, possibly from Mr. Jable's ribs, onto the area to fuse his spine back together.

"The recovery would be about six to nine months in total," he said. "It's pretty complex. It would be kind of tough."

Specialists are considering a less radical option, he said.

"It would involve a long regiment of antibiotics," he said. Surgeons would place a line in his arm, probably in the bicep area.

The line would be snaked through a vein up and around Mr. Jable's shoulder, then down into his heart.

Antibiotics could be delivered through this tube, and it would also allow doctors to draw blood if necessary, said Mr. Jable.

"It can stay in for as long as a year," he said. "I'd need it for six to eight weeks.

"I'd go into the hospital every other day, maybe every third day, for antibiotics, but they would also teach me how to do it at home.

"Then every other week or so I'd also have an MRI or CAT scan to chart the infection's progress."

The problem with the antibiotics, said Mr. Jable, is that the discs in the spine do not receive a lot of blood flow so it's not easy for the antibiotic to get in there.

"If it starts to show bulging, if the disc collapses, it could cause an infection in my spinal cord, maybe paralysis. If it's not better, I would have to consider the surgery.," he said.

"This is high risk stuff," said family friend Chris Mueller, who the Jables were visiting in Bermuda at the time of the attack. "This thing's become an absolute nightmare.

"These are life-threatening surgeries that are going on months later. I just want the prosecutors and the Police and everybody to understand what he's going through after this attack."

Mr. Mueller said that although his friend was normally very positive, his ordeal was taking its toll.

"He's been good up until this point, this is a major setback. It's starting to get pretty serious for the future.

"He's a funny, positive person - but right now he's pretty down."

"It was disappointing, I'll say that," said Mr. Jable. "It was kind of a shock. When the one specialist recommended surgery, that took the wind out of my sails.

"The pain comes and goes," he said. "I've been in pain since it happened, it's just been a matter of how bad it is. It was bad enough that I went and saw the doctor again.

"I probably won't be doing any somersaults in the near future. But it's happened. I've just got to try and do the best I can."

Mr. Jable said that he would probably know for sure what course of action would be taken by this afternoon - around the same time that the man accused of attacking him will appear in Magistrates' Court.

Robinson last appeared in Court via videolink from Westgate prison on January 7 and will appear in court again today for a preliminary inquiry.