hatchet attack survivor recovering

This is a crazy, heartbreaking story from a few weeks back about 30-year-old Chris Anguiano, who was nearly killed in a hatchet attack that left him legally blind and brain damaged: Hatchet attack victim strives to recover.

Anguiano was sleeping in his Escondido home with his then-girlfriend after 1 a.m. July 9 when a man burst into the house, looking for his estranged wife. She was in the next room with her 7-year-old daughter and boyfriend.

Authorities said the man mistook Anguiano's girlfriend for his wife and attacked Anguiano and the woman, who suffered wounds to her hands and feet.

A former Border Patrol agent, Gamalier Reyes Rivera, 33, has been charged with four counts of attempted murder on four people in the house, burglary, torture, mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon. He is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 16 in Vista Superior Court, a district attorney's spokesman said. If convicted, Rivera could be sentenced to life in prison.

According to Anguiano's parents, he suffered 17 hatchet wounds. It's a miracle he survived. Anguiano, who was previously a nursing assistant and had plans to become a registered nurse, is now focusing on walking without assistance and undergoing stem cell therapy to regain his sight.