Graham Norton recalls how he asked a 'little old lady' to hold his hand after being stabbed

Graham Norton has recalled the harrowing moment he was robbed, stabbed and left for dead after a violent unprovoked attack back in 1989. 

The presenter, 58, lost half of his blood after be stabbed while walking home as a young drama student, years before he rose to fame on Father Ted. 

Now in Elizabeth Day’s How to Fail podcast, Graham said how he asked for a ‘little old lady’ to hold his hand as he lay on a mat ‘dying’. 

Scary: Graham Norton has recalled the harrowing moment he was robbed, stabbed and left for dead after a violent unprovoked attack back in 1989

Graham said: ‘I’m on this mat and I didn’t know I was dying, I didn’t figure it out until later, and this is so not me but I remember saying to this little old lady “will you hold my hand?”

‘And it was a flicker on her face of “oh do I want to hold his hand?” but she did and she held out her hand. 

 ‘I held her hand and I think that’s something so deep within us and it motivates so much of our life that we don’t want to die alone.’

Terrible: The presenter, 58, lost half of his blood after be stabbed while walking home as a young drama student, years before he rose to fame on Father Ted (pictured in 2002) 

Graham continued: ‘I think so many decisions in our lives like having a partner and having children are about not being alone when you die. It’s about having someone to hold your hand. 

‘It gave me a really good attitude to risk and to failure because if you think of the worst-case scenario, no failure compares to dying. I’m not recommending anyone do it but for me it was a very useful and powerful life lesson.’  

Graham contributed to a book called This Is Going To Hurt last year which followed stories from celebrities who have used the NHS. 

Author Adam Kay recounted the presenter’s story on This Morning. He said: ‘He got not a bit stabbed, he got really stabbed.

‘Just arrived in London and describes the NHS as the safety net, there to catch us when we fall, replacing the family he left behind in Ireland. 

He writes with extreme humour as you can imagine, but there was this chilling section, where he asks the nurse if he was going to die.

‘Her long pause made his flesh hug his bones, but like for so many of us, the NHS saved his life.’ 

Graham had previously revealed that he was stabbed in a piece for The Telegraph in 2010, writing: ‘In 1989 I was mugged, beaten and stabbed by a group of boys, who left me for dead.

‘To add insult to injury, not only did I lose half my blood but I lost my boyfriend too: he dumped me the next day, which wasn’t the most tactful piece of timing.’ 

Honest: Graham said how he asked for a ‘little old lady’ to hold his hand as he lay on a mat ‘dying’