Last October, Scott Jable was fighting for his life after he was stabbed in broad daylight on Front Street in an attack which shocked Bermuda.

But last week, the nightmare was wiped away for the American tourist when he was shown the true spirit of the Island by a group of Bermudians who brought him back for a holiday of a lifetime.

After enjoying five wonderful days with his wife Chris and son Cole, Mr. Jable said a big thank you to the Islanders who restored his faith in Bermuda.

Mr. Jable told The Royal Gazette: “How do we begin to thank a group of individuals and an entire Island really who took away the nightmare of our trip in October and left us instead with wonderful memories of our trip this past week?

“It was hard to say goodbye to such a beautiful place and to a group of people who have spent so much of their time and effort making us so comfortable, so welcome for the past five days.”

A group of Bermudians led by Clayton Price and the Spirit of Bermuda charity were so appalled, they raised more than $4,000 to bring Mr. Jable from Chicago back to Bermuda.

Bermuda came to the wicket with organisations like Belco, Bank of Bermuda, Butterfield and Vallis, Fairmont Southampton Hotel, MEF group, Pickled Onion, Swizzle Inn, Dolphin Quest, Bermuda Maritime Museum, Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institution, Hartley's Helmet Dive, Marsh Management Services, Scott Hunter, Bacardi, RenaissanceRe, Ernst and Young, ACE, KPMG, Tewksbury Capital, Gosling Brothers, and the XL Foundation donating to give Mr. Jable a holiday to remember.

Mr. Jable said: “If Bermuda ever wants to elect itself a goodwill ambassador, our votes go to Clayton.

“There cannot be anyone on the Island more proud of Bermuda or quick to show off its typical hospitality and warmth than Clayton Price.

“So, having being reminded of what happened to me (in conversation with my friend Kit Mueller), Clayton naturally decided he didn't want our memories of his beloved Bermuda to be such negative and traumatic ones. He immediately set out to do something about changing that.”

Mr. Price said: “I felt bad as a person and it was a black eye for Bermuda as it was not just an attack on Scott but on all of Bermuda.

“I just wanted to do something about that to bring him back here and I am more than happy and pleased that he took up our offer to come back and gave us a second chance to prove what the true spirit of Bermuda is all about when it comes to tourism to show we care and that we are a pretty reasonable place to visit.”

Mr. Jable said he is now 85 percent back to normal after wearing a torso brace for nine weeks and taking intravenous antibiotics every eight hours. He spent April and May doing in physical therapy after the infection in his spine cleared up.

“I still can't lift anything terribly heavy and I still don't have feeling in my upper left leg (which may never come back),” he said.

Bermudian Lorenzo Robinson, 24, has been charged with Mr. Jable's attempted murder and will face trial on November 17.