Jim Walpole, 77, and his wife Marilyn, 79, were visiting the city after completing a cross-Canada trip by train.
They had finished eating at P.J. O’Brien’s restaurant and were heading to the King Edward Hotel, when Walpole tripped on a curb and fell on a piece of scaffolding, which cut his throat.
“I’m forever grateful to him, he really helped me out,” Walpole told the Star in a telephone interview from his home in Defiance, Ohio, Saturday.
Marilyn, who is a retired nurse, was concerned that her husband might have been cut on the carotid artery or the jugular vein and yelled for help.
Malkovich acted quickly and knew just what to do to stop the flow of blood until paramedics arrived, Walpole said.
Chris Mathias, a doorman from the King Edward Hotel, also sprinted to help the man when he fell on Thursday night. He said he found Walpole lying on his back in a pool of blood.
“I believe (Malkovich) was having a cigarette and witnessed the whole thing happening, he placed his hand and started applying pressure to the man’s neck didn’t let go until the ambulance arrived,” Mathias said.
Ben Quinn, the owner of P.J. O’Brien’s where the Walpoles had just had dinner, was also driving by when he got out of his car and stopped to help.
“I was bleeding so bad on my neck and Chris bought him a towel and John kept pressure on my bleeding neck and then Quinn kept me from turning over and made me stay there until EMS arrived,” Walpole said.
At St. Michael’s Hospital, where Walpole received 10 stitches, he said he was told “if it was an 8th of an inch further I would have had real trouble.”
Malkovich, a two-time Academy Award nominee, is in Toronto where he is currently starring in The Giacomo Variations at the Elgin Theatre. He was not available for comment Saturday night.
After his frightening experience, Walpole said he definitely plans on watching Malkovich’s movies.