‘Monsters’ attack Trini family in New York

NEW YORK: After confronting a bunch of Halloween hoodlums who threw an egg at his baby, Trinidadian Ricky Hosein — brave, but certainly battered — reached back to wipe away what he thought was yolk. He found only his own blood.

“I reached over (to touch my back) and my finger actually went into the stab wound,” Hosein told the New York Daily News. “Then I pulled up my shirt, I saw a hole ... through my arm. When I got up and came out of the yard and tried to shake it off, I saw and felt the blood — just gushing, flowing down to my fingers.” As he was losing blood, a woman he never saw before named Michelle got out of her car and possibly saved his life. She called 911 on her cell phone and applied pressure to his wounds. She said she was a nurse, and told neighbours to get her more paper towels. “Michelle, she came over and started helping me,” Hosein recalled. “She told us to stop panicking. She was helping me. She was trying to stop the bleeding.”

A week ago, Hosein, 24, was fighting for his life with multiple stab wounds and a punctured lung. He is home now, thankful to be alive but still mystified how a traditional Halloween prank turned so violent. “I know how kids are. I know they throw eggs on Halloween,” said the Trinidad native, who has lived in New York for eight years. “But I never thought that they would be that stupid to throw an egg at a baby.” The family had been out trick-or-treating in the early evening in Hollis. Hosein, who was with his fiancee, Adilia Guiterrez, 26, his 10-month-old daughter, Sierra, and his stepdaughter, Selisha Ali, 6, had stopped to tie Selisha’s shoelace.

The egg came hurtling from across the street on 89th Avenue near 184th Street and nearly hit Sierra, who was nestled in a stroller. “If somebody threw an egg just at me I would have thought ‘Oh these punks,’ but what really makes me upset and brings tears to my eyes is because they tried to throw an egg at a baby,” he said. Hosein scolded the teens. They jumped him. “I would like to even ask the guy: you want to be a tough guy, but how could you stab me in front of my kids and my wife?” he said. Police have arrested two 15-year-olds: Ajai Jagernauth and another youth who was not identified. Jagernauth was charged with attempted murder and assault. But the family does not feel safe. There were at least ten other kids who jumped Hosein. Now Selisha can’t sleep. “I’m trying to forget about them, but I still get them in my dreams,” Selisha said. “I see a monster with a green mask chasing me.”