A father-of-three was left fighting for his life after he was stabbed by a carjacker despite having already handed over his car and keys.

Robert Palmer, from Birmingham, was unconscious for five days and had to have a kidney removed, after the vicious attack shortly after 1am last Saturday.

The 43-year-old office worker was sitting in his silver Rover 25 in the Kitts Green area of the city where he lives when he was approached by two men who tried to force him to hand over his keys.

He refused to do so at first, but when one of them pulled out a knife he got out of the vehicle, leaving the keys behind.

As Mr Palmer tried to run away he was chased and stabbed in the back, leaving him in a critical condition. The men then drove off in his car, which was found abandoned the following day in the Nechells area.

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Palmer said: "Even the surgeons didn't expect me to live through this. The person who did this was a maniac."

He added: "It was a huge monstrous knife - it put the fear of God into me.

"The men had my car and my keys and yet I was still chased. I remember feeling a blow in my back but didn't realise I had been stabbed."

West Midlands Police are yet to make any arrests in connection with the attack. The offender with the knife is described as black, his accomplice was lighter skinned.