Wales Police Constable Credits Vest With Saving His Life

An constable with the Gwent Police Force in Wales is crediting his body armor with saving his life after being stabbed last year.

Constable Rhydian Jones said he would not be alive if he wasn't wearing a stab-proof vest as Tony Buttigieg repeatedly stabbed on Oct. 2, according to Wales Online.

Jones, who has been on the force for the past decade, recalled there being "at least three or four" impacts from the knife on his vest.

"I've dealt with many public order situations, whether that's on a Friday or Saturday night, or when we're executing something like a drug warrant or dealing with a violent person. But this is the first time I've come that close to severe injury or potentially death as a result."

Jones was called to an apartment building after neighbors reported Buttigieg being in a "frantic" state, shouting and banging on doors. When officers arrived, they found the man pacing around behind a glass door in the hallway on the top floor of the building, armed with two kitchen knives.

Jone attempted to calm the man and get him to drop the knives, but he was ultimately stabbed.

"I was lucky he didn’t get me in my arms or my neck, I was fully expecting to get caught there, Jones said. "I could feel around three or four blows to my midriff area, where it's hit my stab vest - which, to all intents and purposes, saved me from being stabbed."

Officers used a Taser on Buttigieg was taken into custody and has since been sentenced to four years in prison.