Twenty-seven-year-old Bologna woman Stella Trevisani, who has been in Australia for around two years, thought she was going to die as she fell to the ground in a pool of blood.
She was taken to Royal Perth Hospital, where she was in a serious but stable condition.
At about 9:20 pm on Saturday Ms Trevisani was walking to Claisebrook train station, in East Perth, when she was assaulted.
Ms Trevisani said she noticed a group of three boys watching her as she approached the station but ignored them and sped up.
As she approached the ramp to the platform, police said she was confronted by one of the teenagers and stabbed up to five times in the arms and leg.
“I resisted and I fought back but I didn’t realise he had a knife,” Ms Trevisani said from hospital.
“I thought he was just punching me and pulling me.
“He smashed me against the wall and then he said, ‘If you don’t give me your phone I’m going to stab you everywhere’.
“That was the moment I thought this is serious, and I let the phone go but then he stabbed me in the leg again and I fell over.”
The heavily armed Tactical Response Group, who usually respond to serious incidents involving guns and threats to life, were called to the scene.
A boy on a bicycle was arrested shortly after the incident on a nearby street.
The boy was reportedly “in a confused state” when he was located and arrested.
He was charged with causing grievous bodily harm and aggravated armed robbery.
He appeared in the Perth Children’s Court on Monday afternoon via video link from Banksia Hill detention centre, after Magistrate Andree Horrigan earlier in the day ordered he be removed from the courthouse.
It is understood the teen was kicking a door making a “thumping” noise that was echoing through the building.
When he did appear, he insisted he wanted to plead guilty and receive his punishment immediately.
But his lawyer, Claire Rossi, said she wanted to speak to the teenager regarding his plea, saying she understood he was “anxious and in a difficult position” but she wanted to see him in person.
Ms Rossi added that there was concern the teenager had a “level of intellectual disability, and it seemed he did not understand the gravity of the situation”.
Magistrate Horrigan explained to the boy that he was facing very serious charges and that it was important that he seek legal advice.
The boy was remanded in custody and is due to appear again later this week.
Ms Trevisani’s Australian boyfriend has started a GoFundMe page to cover her medical costs.
Almost 300 people have donated to date - many of them from the Italian community - raising a total of $13,265 so far.
