One Of The Victims Of Apple River Stabbing Speaks Out

Ryhley Mattison who is 24 was one of 5 people stabbed 1 fatally while tubing on the Apple River on July 30 after a confrontation with Nicolae Miu who is charged with one count of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of 17-year-old Isaac Schuman and four counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

Mattison spoke with FOX9 about the incident from her hospital bed. She suffered a punctured lung as well as an injured diaphragm and stomach from the stabbing. Mattison was in critical condition upon arrival at Regions Hospital in St. Paul where she had to be resuscitated and have surgery to put some of her insides back into her.

Mattison admitted that she had been drinking so some of the details are a little fuzzy, but this is her account of what happened. She was with about 10 other people comprised of men and women when another group caught their attention as they were seemingly uncomfortable.

Mattison and a few of her friends went over to the group to see if they could help. The others in the group said an older man was bothering them and acting kind of creepy. He was being weird and asking inappropriate things to them. Her friend went up the told the older man and told him he needed to leave and he proceeded to punch her in the face.

That is when Mattison said the perpetrator leaned forward facing her and leaned in, she felt massive pain in her stomach area and thought maybe he punched her, unaware that she had been stabbed. Her friends called 911 as Mattison started to bleed out and after that, she does not remember much of what happened.

Mattison was discharged from the hospital Friday afternoon and started a GoFundMe page to help pay for medical bills after she recently lost her job. The perpetrator Nicolae Miu has hired an attorney and is pleading self-defense.