DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kentucky couple Steven Worthington and Allison Crowe were walking on the pier near Ocean Walk Shoppes in Daytona Beach Monday night, when a man made crude comments to Worthington's 12-year-old daughter.
Worthington exchanged words with the man, later identified as John Debow, and then tried to get him away from his daughter.
"I pushed the man away, he pulled out a switchblade and proceeded to stab me in the stomach," Worthington said.
The men tussled and Debow fell onto his own knife. Worthington and Crowe, both nurses, say the incident happened really fast, and they tried to help.
"The guy started to stand up and you can see the blood coming from his arms, and I say 'whoa whoa whoa,' tried to back up from it, tried to make sure he's OK," Crowe said.
Daytona Beach police made it to the scene in minutes and arrested Debow, who was taken to a hospital.
While Worthington sat in an ambulance for his injuries, he had a strangely sweet idea. He wanted to propose to his girlfriend right then.
"I got down on one knee and she actually was trying to help me back up," Worthington said.
The couple was so in the moment, they didn't even notice the still bloody scene.
“The firemen were there and they were actually washing the blood away as I was on one knee asking her to marry me," Worthington said.
It's not quite a storybook fairy tale.
"I knew I wanted to propose when I was out here. It was actually going to be out on the beach here, gonna write it in sand and everything,” Worthington said.
The couple laughs now, but they say it'll be an epic story to pass to the grandkids.
"It was a really, really big surprise and I'll never forget it. It's a story I'll be able to tell from here on out," Crowe said.
As far as Debow, the couple doesn't plan on pressing charges for the attack, but he is facing aggravated battery charges.