Kiwi adventurer Pete Bethune has survived being stabbed in the ribs after he wrestled with two men trying to rob him in Brazil.
Bethune fought with two men for about two minutes in the port of Santana, where he was trying to hire a boat while looking into the local wildlife trade.
"I honestly thought I was gone. We fell to the ground and I felt the knife go into my ribs, I thought my number had come up," he told Radio NZ.
"There was probably 15 people would have seen this happen. I was yelling out for help and no one came."
After the men ran off he took a taxi to his hotel where he patched himself up before making his way to hospital.
The doctor told him the blade was wedged between the ribs and if it had been at a different angle would have penetrated much further.
"This is not the first time I've been attacked... I am lucky to be alive and I am counting my blessings"
Santana police are investigating.
"They think there's a reasonable chance of catching these guys."
Bethune had just been visiting nearby Macapa Prison, where the six men jailed for Sir Peter Blake's 2001 murder are being held.
He said he lost his mobile phone and his backpack contained only an Auckland bus card and about $7 in cash.
The 52-year-old is known for his 2008 round-the-world record in the biofuelled Earthrace trimaran. In 2010 he spent four months in a Tokyo jail following anti-whaling activities in Antarctic waters.
