Marion's miracle recovery after near-fatal stab attack

9:00am Friday 18th July 2008

As Marion Powell lay dying after being brutally stabbed 16 times by her jealous partner, she prayed she would live for the sake of her sons and grandson.

It was little short of a miracle that Marion, aged 52, of Pembroke Dock, survived the horrific attack which left her with both physical and mental scars as a permanent reminder of her traumatic ordeal.

I remember him saying: ‘I can’t live without you, so I’ve come to kill you’

Attack survivor Marion Powell

One year on from that nightmare, she has told her story exclusively to the Western Telegraph.

“I’d be lying if I said I don’t cry,” she said, “but now I want closure.”

On July 17th, 2007, two days after Marion ended her relationship with her domineering partner, staff nurse Kelvin Bull-De’ath and asked him to leave, he returned to her house in Charles Thomas Avenue at night, used a blow torch to gain access through a window and began stabbing her as she lay asleep.

Recalling the moment she saw Bull-De’ath standing over her with a knife, Marion said: “I remember him saying: ‘I can’t live without you, so I’ve come to kill you’ and then he went straight for my heart, but I stopped it going too deep with my hand.”

The knife broke in Marion’s neck, prompting Bull-De’ath to leave the room in search of a sharper weapon and Marion managed to call her brother from her mobile phone.

The attack then continued until the doorbell rang and Bull De’ath escaped.

“Somehow God gave me the strength to open the front door,” added Marion.

“The next thing I remember was lying down on my bed, which felt cold with the blood, and asking my sister-in-law to tell my family that I loved them.

“I was seconds away from death. Police said my face was open to the bone and someone had to hold my arm together while I was put in the ambulance.

“They wouldn’t let any of my family in the ambulance with me because they didn’t think I’d make it to the toll bridge.”

Marion lost almost all of her blood when a stab wound to her arm cut a main artery. Her lung collapsed three times and she underwent major surgery.

Bull-De’ath was convicted of attempted murder and received an 11-year sentence.

However, he could be out on conditional release after serving just five-and-a-half years.

Marion says her life changed overnight after the attack. She has not gone a day without pain, but the former support team manager wants to move on from the horror of her experience.

Marion’s son, Simon Bulley, said: “She always sits with her back to the wall now and she doesn’t like the dark.

“The fact that she didn’t know he was in the house plays on her mind. The psychological scars may take years to heal, but she’s getting better.”

Marion says she owes her life to the medical teams, and support from the police, particularly DC Dale Scriven, ambulance control and staff at Withybush Hospital and Argyle Street Surgery.

“The kindness shown by my family, friends and the local community has been so touching,” she added.