Jake Hall has been pictured for the first time after he was stabbed during a night out in Spain at the weekend.
The Only Way Is Essex star was out with friends in the resort of Marbella when he was caught up in a fight between two gangs of Brits and was stabbed with a broken bottle.
He was rushed to hospital and taken to intensive care, and almost lost a kidney as a result of the incident.
The reality star gave a thumbs up from his hospital bed as he posed for a picture (below) which he posted online on Wednesday and tweeted: “Thank you so much for everyone’s amazing support and getting me through this. I’m getting better thanks to everyone.
“Can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Jake found himself embroiled in the violent incident at the Aqwa Mist nightclub in Marbella when a group of Liverpudlian friends he was with started fighting with a gang of Londoners.
Witnesses have told how the men were trying to attack each other using broken champagne bottles and shisha pipes.
“It was like something out of the Wild West,” an insider told the Daily Mirror.
“The problems started earlier in the day during a spray party at the Ocean Club when a bottle thrown by a group of men from London hit the girlfriend of one of the Liverpudlians.
“The Londoners had already been causing mayhem by playing a stupid game at a party the day before where they were smashing bottles over each others’ heads.
“It kicked off for real in Aqwa Mist. Jake was with the Liverpudlians who are well known in the area and he suffered a very bad injury.”
A spokesman for Spain’s National Police confirmed officers had been called to the club in the early hours of Monday.
They said: “Local police were already in attendance when national police officers arrived and they left things to them as there appeared to be no need for them to get involved.”
However, holidaymakers told of horrific scenes as they saw Jake running from the club covered in blood.
One onlooker told the Daily Record: "We saw it. Jake ran out of Aqwa Mist as we were walking in and into a car. Blood was everywhere.
"Thought we weren't going to get in but they just got a hose out and washed away blood."
Another witness tweeted: "Still can't believe we were with Jake Hall the other night and watched him get stabbed.
"Most shocking and terrifying thing I have ever seen."