44-year-old Danny Ross, who was stabbed 38 times, cheated death because he was overweight.
Ross required 70 stitches after he was strangled with a belt then repeatedly knifed in his home, the Daily Mail reported.
Ross had been watching television at his flat in Exeter city centre last August when David Johnson knocked on the door and falsely accused him of stealing money from a family member.
Johnson then launched a frenzied attack by first using his belt to throttle his victim until he passed out.
He then stabbed Ross 38 times with a kitchen knife. Ross told the jury: 'He started to get violent. He got out a belt and put it round my throat. In seconds I was unconscious.'
He woke up in hospital several hours later and was told about the extent of his injuries.
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Ross said: "After I saw the photographs the police took I couldn't believe it. If I had been thinner I would have been dead."
"The medical staff tried to be tactful in the way they described it but I am heavier than I would like to be and they said it was that extra weight that saved my life."
Johnson, 33, was yesterday convicted of attempted murder at Exeter Crown Court. He will be sentenced later today.