My character would be celebrating his engagement at a pub with his friends when he notices a fight breaking out and tries to stop it. As he pulls the men away from each other, one of them sucker punches him and pulls out a knife to stab him. I don't know where he should be stabbed and if it should be done once? His jaw would be wired shut as he would have nerve damage from the mandible and has difficulty opening his jaw. I want him to survive the ordeal. It doesn't matter how much I research it. It makes me more confused. I know that a stab to the liver would most likely kill him, but wherein the abdominal area would he survive from? And what complication(s) would he have with his jaw wired shut and recovering from his stab wound be and how long would that take? My character would be a 5'11 male who is generally fit as he eats healthy most of the time and jogs in the mornings.
Abdominal wounds are dangerous if they penetrate any organs, as the internal bleeding is difficult to stop. Your best it is to have the knife slide across his side and only damage muscle, rather than entering the abdominal cavity.
the most likely thing is defensive wounds to his arms as the instinct is to block a strike... so he could get cut and bleed heavily without being in too much danger
Infections, that is a standard fear for either of those injuries. Tearing stitches in the abdominal wound. Eating everything through/with a straw. A broken jaw without complication can take 1-2 months. https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/broken-jaw-a-to-z This seems like a good look into all the complications involved. https://www.healthline.com/health/broken-or-dislocated-jaw#symptoms And the abdominal laceration could vary widely, depending on how deep it is. So possibly a month or so. Hope some if this helps a bit.
Thank you for the suggestions I have already researched into the broken jaw aspect, and from the sucker punch, he would get Jaw pain chin and lower lip num from nerve damage that runs through the mandible bruising and swelling of the jaw unable to open his jaw difficulty speaking It still the stabbing bit that I like to discuss more of. I want him to be in critical condition, but he would pull through.
I’ve read that lower abdominal wounds are quite survivable, as long as no organs or major blood vessels are hit. the intestines slide away from the knife and are rarely perforated, so no worries on that front. Read real stories of domestic violence stab victims playing dead until the husband goes to take a shower, then running for help, from multiple lower abdominal stab wounds. -MC
I would have added both of these if you guys hadn't beaten me to it. I've got variations of both in my current WIP.