Man may lose his arm following machete attack outside Forum after Janet Jackson concert

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- It was a night he'll never forget, for all the wrong reasons.

"This is the first time where I had that like 'I think I'm going to die' moment," said Hawthorne resident James O'Neill.

Last Saturday, the 36-year-old was enjoying the Janet Jackson concert with a friend at the Kia Forum in Inglewood. After an amazing three-hour show, O'Neill says he was walking alone on Prairie Avenue trying to catch an Uber home when he noticed he was being followed. He says about eight men began attacking him - one of them slashed him with a machete. They robbed him of his wallet and phone and left him bloodied with a gash in his arm.

"I kind of had tunnel vision, started thinking of friends and family. Yeah just thinking that my life is going to end and it was just horrible," O'Neill said.

O'Neill says luckily for him, a few bystanders stepped in to stop the assault. They bandaged his wound and then O'Neill was able to call a ride to the hospital. He said he needed several surgeries and will need months off work to recover. He may lose his arm as a result of his injuries.

With no medical insurance, he faces an uphill battle - so his friend created a GoFundMe account to help him while in recovery.

"I don't really like to ask for money, but she's a sweetheart went ahead and did this favor for me. I am going to be incurring a lot of medical expenses," O'Niell said.

Eyewitness News reached out to Inglewood police and the Forum, but haven't heard back yet.