Click the play button on the video window to the right to see the storyTEMPE, AZ - A stabbing victim has used his personal tragedy to help others in the Valley -- seven years later.
Joshua Kolsrud now likes to put bad guys behind bars. He's been an attorney with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for two years.
And he became a prosecutor after he himself became the victim of a brutal crime.
In 2002, a stranger stabbed Kolsrud on Tempe’s Mill Avenue while he was out with a group of friends.
“I could literally look down and see my bone and muscle,” said Kolsrud.
He nearly lost his arm and his life. He said didn’t wake up from the attack until three days after.
"It didn't stop bleeding until at least six months after the incident," he said. "That's how bad it was."
Since being stabbed, he's had 18 surgeries. His left arm remains essentially paralyzed.
But testifying during his attacker's trial has turned out to be nearly as painful.
“It turned out the sentencing was the hardest thing for me emotionally,” he said.
From that pain came an unexpected passion.
Kolsrud said he realized that he wanted to become an attorney.
“Feeling the jubilation after the trial was something I wanted to give other victims in similar circumstances. Every time I go in the courtroom, every time I think about what happened and it reminds me why I'm there,” said Kolsrud.
For Kolsrud, being able to help victims find justice is just as valuable.
"I'm happier now than before I was stabbed, even though I have a paralyzed arm," he said.
The man who attacked Kolsrud, John Karl Munninger, was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison.
