Graphic content warning: This story contains details readers may find disturbing.
A Brampton, Ont. media personality who was brutally attacked with a machete and axe in the driveway of his home has spoken out for the first time since he was ambushed.
On the morning of Aug. 4, Joti Singh Mann, a local podcast host and real estate agent, was getting into his parked Jeep when he was approached by a man wielding an axe.
Video obtained from the scene shows a suspect swinging the blade into the vehicle after Mann shut the car door.
“I was sitting in my car and when I looked to my side, they broke my window,” Mann said in an exclusive interview with CTV News Toronto Thursday.
Two other men then appeared, one armed with a machete, and attacked Mann.
Mann said he offered the group the keys to his vehicle, thinking the suspects were attempting a carjacking, but it didn’t stop them from continuing the attack.
The three suspects pulled Mann from his vehicle and brought him to the end of the driveway, continuing to assault him.
“If anyone saw that video, they would think I was not alive,” he said.
Mann revealed he was beaten with a machete and axe, pepper-sprayed, and Tasered during the attack.
“I was out of my mind,” he said, recalling the incident. “I had no idea what was happening to me.”
The violence only ended when Mann’s mother, Jasmail Mann, ran from her home, towards the scene, causing the attackers to flee.
After the attack, Mann said he observed the three men wait outside his home for nearly two hours. He said he assumes they were waiting for him.
At the hospital, Mann said he received surgery and more than 180 stitches. He also said he had to have a toe amputated, is dealing with nerve damage in his hand, and is tending to a number of fractures and cuts.
Since the attack, he said he’s developed post-traumatic stress disorder, has been plagued by nightmares, and does not sleep more than three hours at a time.
Before the incident, Mann did receive a threat while recording a recent episode of his podcast, Peel Regional Police confirmed. They said a safety plan was put in place, and that the threat was reported and being investigated. At this time, there police say there is no definitive connection between the threat and the attack, and Mann says he still has no idea why the men attacked him.
“God knows,” he said.
At 3 p.m. on Thursday, Jasmail Mann will be honoured for her bravery at Brampton City Hall.
