AUSTIN, Texas — It's been nearly three weeks since a gruesome attack on a 19-year-old by a man with a machete happened near Downtown Austin.
Seth Gott is finally out of the hospital after the Jan. 9 attack in Auditorium Shores and is speaking out about the attack and his road to recovery.
"I just wanted to get outside, feel the wind, see the water," Gott said. "Just have a nice little walk."
Gott was headed back to his car when his life changed forever in a split second. That's when 24-year-old Ashton Talley allegedly started hacking at Gott with a machete.
"I didn't notice him. I didn't see him. I didn't know anything," Gott said. "I just heard somebody running upon me, and then boom! Just felt like I got hit in the back."
Gott said the alleged attack felt like it went on for a minute or two, but in that time, Talley appeared to have a moment of clarity.
"I mean, it couldn't have been longer than, like, a second or two seconds," Gott said. "It just looked like ... He looked almost sad for just a second. And then he just swings again."
Gott was rushed to the hospital, where family friends like Shannon Gradwohl rushed to his side.
"The doctors were doing everything they could for him," Gradwohl said. "We did not know one way or the other which way it was going to go."
Gott is recovering at home and is expected to make a near, if not full recovery. But even after such a brutal attack, he said he holds compassion and understanding close to his heart.
"[Talley's] a threat to society. But he wasn't born this way ... This could have been stopped and this wasn't inevitable," Gott said. "Something has happened to this man. I'm sure many somethings that have led up to this point."
Gott, who is a student at Austin Community College and an avid guitar player, said he's ready to get back to his normal life and not let a tragedy like this define him.
"I would love to do something in molecular biology or microbiology," Gott said. "I just love the micro world. It's like a whole different world in the palm of your hand."
Gott and his loved ones said that being able to be back together to celebrate his life is all that matters now. Meanwhile, Talley remains in Travis County Jail, facing charges of assault and evading arrest.
Talley has a court date scheduled for Friday.