ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C (WGHP) -- Dave survived, and he is home. It’s a sentence that an Alamance County family did not know if they would be able to say after an unprovoked attack at a grocery store. Dave was stabbed several times in the beer den of the Lowes Foods in Mebane earlier this month. H e is grateful to be home and extremely thankful for the community support he has received. But being home from the hospital is just the first hurdle on his path to healing. “Who knows what that is going to look like. I don’t know. How does it affect them?” said Phil Uphill, a friend of Dave’s. There is uncertainty as they navigate a new normal. “He was just now starting to be able to eat again. Almost three weeks without eating,” Uphill said. A stranger walked into the Lowes Foods on March 7 and changed Dave’s life forever. “I know of at least eight deep stab wounds and a punctured lung and ... the infection that set in that kept him in critical care for about two weeks,” Uphill said. There is progress for Dave’s physical injuries, but it’s a standstill to figure out what motivated the suspect to do this to a stranger. “He didn’t do anything. He was an innocent bystander like any of us going into a grocery store and is just senselessly stabbed for who knows what reason. We may never know the reason,” Uphill said. Uphill went to the first court appearance after the attack, and he plans to keep going back to every court date until justice is served. “Something is not right. Normal people do not do this … I think the judge said 484 months ... I don’t think he deserves to be out there anymore,” Uphill said. But in this story, the good outweighs the bad. Other people in the store jumped in to help Dave during the attack, and every day since then, the family has seen nonstop support. “So many times we lose faith in society, and then things like this ... with the community coming to support them and support strangers. It’s huge. It gives you that faith back in good people,” Uphill said. Uphill started a GoFundMe that has now raised close to $20,000 to help with medical expenses since both Dave and his wife are not able to work right now. “It is a huge thank you and a huge shoutout to who we are as a community as well. To volunteer funds in a time that funds are tight says a lot,” Uphill said. The prayers and messages of support have meant so much to the family as the case continues in court. The suspect accused of stabbing Dave is expected to be back in Alamance County court on Monday. ...read more read less