A witness to the stabbing of Airman 1st Class Spencer Stone said that Stone was trying to protect himself when he was stabbed during a brawl early Thursday in midtown Sacramento.

ABC10 in Sacramento reported that Sacramento cab driver Kennedy Hailemariam said he was at a red light when he witnessed the assault near 21st and K streets.

"He tried to protect himself," Hailemariam said. "(The assailants,) they don't stop, they tried to stab him again and again."

Hailemariam said Stone "knocked out" one of the assailants. The cab driver said he later offered to take Stone to the hospital. Stone told him to call 911.

The University of California Davis Medical Center issued an upbeat news release on Friday saying that said Stone is "is awake, able to get out of bed and in good spirits. He is continuing to recover." His medical condition was upgraded from "serious" to "fair." 

Travis Air Force Base in California has created a special email address for people who want to wish Stone a speedy recovery.

Stone was stabbed in the chest early Thursday morning in Sacramento and he is being treated at a local hospital, where his medical condition was upgraded from "serious" to "fair" on Friday.

Police do not believe the incident was an act of terrorism or related to his actions on a French train, when he helped tackle and disarm a gunman. Investigators are looking for two Asian men who fled the scene of the stabbing in a dark color Toyota Camry.

Well-wishers can send messages to Stone at: airmanstone@us.af.mil

The public affairs staff at Travis Air Force Base is collecting the emails and sharing them with Stone's family, said Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Brooke Brzozowske.

Stone was hailed as a hero around the world for helping stop a gunman's planned rampage on a train in France in August and was awarded the Purple Heart for injuries he received subduing the gunman.

He also received the Airman's, which is the Air Force's highest noncombat award.

Stone, his friend Army Spc. Alek Skarlatos of the Oregon National Guard and their friend Anthony Sadler were on vacation Aug. 21 when they subdued, disarmed and hogtied a heavily armed gunman on a train heading from Amsterdam to Paris.

The gunman, who was armed with an AK-47, a Luger and a box cutter, stabbed Stone during the melee, sending him to the hospital. France awarded all three Americans the Legion of Merit within days of the attack.

"Spencer Stone is a very special airman," Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Karns said on Thursday. "His story and selflessness has inspired so many people. His instinct for helping others is well chronicled. Our hope is for his speedy recovery."

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