A WAR veteran came to the rescue of a workman bleeding heavily from a brutal blade attack.

Exclusive by John Kerr

A WAR veteran came to the rescue of a workman bleeding heavily from a brutal blade attack.

The man - who had been stabbed three times in the face, body and stomach - drove his van two miles along a country road in a desperate bid to escape his attacker.

The 27-year-old screeched to a halt when he spotted Falklands War veteran Alan Leaker.

Slumped over the steering wheel, he shouted from his van window that he needed help.

The victim cried out: "I've been stabbed - please do something for me."

Mr Leaker used his medical training to help save the man's life.

The ex-RAF fireman, who served in the Falklands, raised the alarm at a nearby pub and the manager gave him towels, which he used to stem the victim's flow of blood until an ambulance arrived.

He was rushed to Monklands Hospital in Airdrie, where his condition was serious but stable today.

Today a massive police man hunt was under way for the attacker.

The incident began around 11am yesterday in the village of Glenboig, Lanarkshire, when it's thought the victim, who was in a works van, became involved in an argument over a young woman.

The workman desperately rolled up the window of his van as he tried to escape from the knifeman lunging at him.

He managed to drive to Coatbridge, stopping near the Red Bridge Bar, where Alan rushed to his aid.

Alan, of Alexander Street, Coatbridge, today shrugged off his life-saving efforts, saying his reaction was "like second nature".

He said: "I was standing outside the Red Bridge Bar when the van screeched to a halt across the road.

"When I looked at it I saw that the driver's side was coloured in red against the white. I thought vandals had spray-painted it.

"It was only when the driver shouted out he'd been stabbed and needed help that I realised the red was blood.

"I ran over to him and saw he had three stab wounds. His stomach was wide open and blood was pouring from him.

"I shouted on the pub manager and he handed me a bundle of towels and dialled 999.

"I used the towels as best I could to stop the flow of blood.

"It was an unbelievable sight. I don't know how the man managed to drive almost three miles in his condition to look for help."

Bar manager Derek Ewart, 34, who runs the Red Bridge Bar, in Coltswood Road, Coatbridge, said today: "One of my pub regulars, Alan Leaker, a veteran of the Falklands War, was heading into the bar when he saw the van screech to a halt on the opposite side of the road.

"The driver was desperately shouting for help because he had been stabbed.

"Alan ran into the pub to tell me and I threw him a bundle of towels while I contacted the police and ambulance.

"Alan told me later he thought the man was dying and he used the towels in an attempt to stop the flow of blood from the three stab wounds.

"Alan told me that the injured man's stomach was gashed wide open and blood was pouring from him."

It's understood the victim, who has not been named, told the group who helped him the name of the knife attacker.

But it's thought the thug has gone to ground.

Strathclyde Police said today they were following a "definite line of inquiry".