"He literally was stabbed in the eye, and now he's gonna be - I hope that's not the case - but the doctor said he might not be able to save his eye," said his brother, Islam Kifayeh.
Islam says his brother was on his way to work at a reception hall when a man, according to police, walked up to him inside the Bay Ridge Avenue R station and stabbed him in the left eye.
"My brother is a soldier - he'll be strong, he'll get through this. We're just happy, thank God he's alive," Islam adds.
The victim had to dial 911 by himself , his family says, while gushing blood from his eye. It was 4:30 a.m. and not another person or police officer was in sight, his older brother, Jay Kifayeh says.
"We pay our tax dollars, we pay these fares, we should be protected. Like where - where these politicians pleading to all these people - we're protecting you - we're looking out for the citizen, but it doesn't seem like that," Jay adds.
Police say the suspect, who was seen on surveillance jumping the turnstile, took off on the subway after the attack and has not been found. He was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a graphic, a blue Amazon vest, dark-colored sweatpants, and white sneakers.
Nedal underwent emergency surgery - his orbital was damaged, his optic nerve was severed and his vision was possibly gone for good. He did not know his suspected attacker.
Police data shows that transit crime is down this year, following surges of officers and mental health workers into the system.
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