A 76-year-old patient undergoing lung cancer treatment was arrested this week after allegedly stabbing a nurse at Heywood Hospital in Gardner, Massachusetts.
The Gardner Police Department responded to a stabbing complaint on Monday, June 12, around 8 p.m. The nurse, who was injured, was taken to the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester for treatment.
According to prosecutors, David Nichols, the patient, attacked the nurse by stabbing her in the neck while she was attending to something in his hospital room.
The incident resulted in a cut on the nurse’s neck, and she immediately called for help.
Photographs in a police report obtained by WBZ-TV showed a pocket knife and documented a 3-inch cut near the woman’s carotid artery.
Nichols allegedly told another nurse that he needed some fresh air.
During an interview with authorities, he admitted that he knew his actions were wrong, but he believed the hospital was also in the wrong.
According to WBZ, Nichols’ defense attorney, Brian DeMott, revealed that his client had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was informed by a doctor that he had approximately six months to live.
Nichols was detained at the hospital on charges of attempted murder and assault and battery with a deadly weapon.
Despite being connected to oxygen tubes, Nichols had his arraignment right from his hospital bed on Tuesday, June 13.
The court set his bail at $100,000, and Nichols is scheduled to appear in court on July 14.
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