TWELVE months ago Timothy Bateman was nursing several stab wounds.
Now the Dawesville resident is set to receive a bravery medal from the Governor-General for his part in apprehending a violent offender.
On August 30 last year, Mr Bateman confronted an armed man who had broken into a house in Dawesville.
The man, who was reportedly under the influence of alcohol and drugs, was kicking in the front door of the property when Mr Bateman ordered him to leave.
The man lashed out and cut Mr Bateman's face with a cement trowel before fleeing to the next house on the street.
There he crashed through a window and took two knives from the kitchen.
Concerned for the safety of the elderly residents of the property, Mr Bateman entered the house and told them to leave.
He then confronted the armed intruder to give the couple time to escape.
A struggle ensued and the offender stabbed Mr Bateman several times before fleeing to a third property where he was apprehended by police.
Mr Bateman said the experience was one of the scariest of his life and he was lucky to come out alive.
“I heard a ruckus next door and came out to see a man at my neighbour’s front door,” he said.
“His mood kept changing but the first thing he said was ‘help’ so I thought he could be hurt but then he became angry and started kicking the door.”
“I could see he was on drugs and I didn’t realise he had a weapon at first – he had it tucked away.
“He swung it at me and if I hadn’t blocked it he would have got me in the face."
When Mr Bateman followed the offender into his neighbour’s home, his years of martial arts training saved his life.
“He was in the kitchen and he’d picked up a knife, he just came straight at me, not just once but roughly five or six times – it was so fast,” he said.
“When they’re on this stuff people become super strong and super fast, all I could do was just keep blocking him.
“If I hadn’t had martial arts training I would have been dead.”
The first blow hit him on his left arm, the second hit him in the centre of his chest and the third hit his right ribs.
“I was very lucky, I had just put a jumper on and it gave me some extra padding.
“The stab wound in the centre of my chest missed my internal organs by millimetres.”
After the man was apprehended by police, Mr Bateman was taken to Peel Health Campus before being transferred to a hospital in Perth.
“On the way to hospital all I could think was, ‘I’m not going to die because my boy needs me,” he said.
Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove congratulated all Australian Bravery Award recipients and expressed his "sincere admiration".
"We are fortunate as a community and as a nation to benefit from your contribution," he said.
"You now join the company of men and women whose actions have enriched our community and whose values we hold dear."
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