Chef recounts terrifying stabbing allegedly by random stranger while walking to work in Melbourne’s CBD

A chef has recounted her terror at being stabbed — allegedly by a woman who was on bail — while walking to work in Melbourne’s CBD.

Wan Lai, a 36-year-old sushi chef who moved from Taiwan seven years ago, was following her usual route along Little Bourke St about 7.40am on October 2.

She said she felt someone touch her lower back and instinctively turned to the right to see a woman with dishevelled hair muttering words she did not understand.

The woman grabbed Lai’s shoulder and allegedly stabbed her in the right side of her chest before fleeing.

Lai said she did not have time to react and felt intense pain across her body, without realising exactly where she had been injured.

Passers-by rushed to help stop the bleeding before emergency services took her to Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Doctors said Lai suffered a hemopneumothorax — a condition where blood and air build up around the lung, making it difficult to breathe.

Police said her injuries were not life-threatening.

“She turned to her right this time and there was someone there — but what if she turned to her left? It could have been her heart,” Lai’s sister, Ivana Lai, told 7NEWS.com.au.

Ivana said Lai has been unable to work because of her injury, and is facing an uncertain financial future as she is unsure how long her recovery will be and if she will be able to return to the same job. She has also moved to a new home because she no longer felt safe despite having lived in the area for more than four years.

“She doesn’t dare to go out anymore, she’s always on guard,” Ivana said.

“She can’t stand people walking behind her and keeps looking around nervously.

“The place was only 550m from her workplace, close to her boyfriend’s work too. She loved how big the living room was.”

A 32-year-old woman from Melbourne was arrested after an extensive search of the area and a knife was seized, police told 7NEWS.com.au.

She was charged with two counts of intentionally causing injury and committing an indictable offence while on bail.

She appeared before Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on October 3 and was remanded in custody until her next appearance.

Community shaken

The random attack has sparked concern among Lai’s neighbours.

The manager of the building where Lai had lived said its security services had increased patrols to “ensure our community remains safe”.

“Please consider alternate routes and be aware of your surroundings,” the building manager said, adding police had also increased patrols in the area.