West End actor BLINDED after thug smashed through windscreen with metal object in random traffic lights road rage attack
A WEST End star was blinded in his right eye after he was randomly attacked by an armed thug while waiting at traffic lights.
Mike Holoway, 63, needed stitches in his eyeball after an attacker smashed through his van window with a metal object in Beckton, East London.
Last night the actor, who is currently unable to work, told of his ordeal and revealed he needs three operations over nine months in a bid to save his sight.
He told The Sun: “It was 15 seconds of hell. If it wasn’t for the witness I don’t know if I would still be here.
“I was stationary and I heard banging on my door and pulling of the handle. He began screaming and shouting at me.”
Mike, who starred as the main role in Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat for four years, suspects he was targeted in a brutal attempted robbery.
He said: “This man smashed his fist through the driver’s side window. Straight into my face, it knocked me across to the passenger seat.
“I had to have metallic fragments pulled out of my face.
“You think you know how you can react in these situations. But I saw stars. I didn’t know what the hell was going on.
“By the time I picked myself up and got my momentum, I reached for my phone to take a picture of the reg plate, but he’d gone.
“He was quite a tall man, who looked Turkish, with short dark hair and dark eyes. He smashed straight through the window into my face.”
It is believed the thug held a knuckle-duster or small weighted object, which he took with him after being spooked by oncoming vehicles.
Mike floored it and moved away from the scene on the evening of December 18, and was guided to safety by a witness named Bobby.
He said: “Bobby was, as far as I’m concerned, the angel of the day. He got me together and made sure I could get to hospital.”
Mike was rushed to A&E in Essex, where he stayed for more than seven hours for scans and tests.
He was then taken to Moorfields Eye Hospital in central London for surgery after initial findings showed extensive damage to his eye.
LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY
It is unknown how much sight the actor will be able to regain following the attack, casting serious doubts on the future of his career.
Dad-of-two Mike, who also starred in cult TV series The Tomorrow People, now faces a long road to recovery.
He added: “I’ve got to have a lens replacement. I’ve got to get a cornea donor. I’ve got to have a cornea replacement.
“My eye at the moment is being held together by six stitches.
“I’m on painkillers all day, every day for the first five weeks of it happening. It’s a bit of a blur. My wife Emma has been incredible.
“I have to say Moorfields, the team there, the specialists there, the nurses have been unbelievable, absolutely staggering. So they’ve saved my eye.”
He has launched a Gofundme campaign to help with his recovery, which has raised more than £5,000.
The Metropolitan Police has made no arrests.