Nearly a month after he was critically stabbed in an apparently random attack at the Koko Crater Stairs trail, 23-year-old Nicholas Iwamoto today left the The Queen's Medical Center with injuries still healing but sense of humor firmly intact.

In his first public comments since the Feb. 1 attack, Iwamoto thanked the Honolulu Fire Department "for that exciting ride in the helicopter," as well as emergency medical personnel, physicians and nurses at Queen's, and his family, friends and co-workers.

"It's been a long couple of weeks," he said. "It's involved a lot of physical therapy, like learning how to walk again, learning how to breathe again, learning how to talk again."

Iwamoto and another hiker, Guy Tanaka, were stabbed on the popular East Honolulu trail on Feb. 1. Benjamin Davis, 19, of Kalihi, has been charged in the attacks.

Iwamoto, who declined to discuss the incident, was stabbed 18 times and suffered a broken neck, fractured skull, lacerations to his liver and diaphragm, a broken right leg and severed tendons in his right hand.

He met with reporters with his head immobilized by a halo — "And it's a fashion accessory," he said) — his right foot in a walking boot, and his right arm in a cast. He also had a large crescent-shaped scar on his cheek and several other visible wounds to his face and neck.

Iwamoto said he expects to take three to four months to fully recover.

"Three months is optimistic," he said. "They said I should make a full recovery."

Iwamoto was joined by parents Kitty and Sonny, and other friends and relatives.