Harold Stemper stands by pool tables at Good Vibes Bar & Grill in Richardson, Sunday, October 4, 2026. The bar was hosting a benefit for the four survivors of a stabbing that occurred there earlier this year. Stemper was stabbed that night and underwent an operation to staple the bottom of his heart together.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
Harold Stemper’s doctors call him the “miracle man.” he and his wife, Linda Stemper, said his successful recovery from a stab wound to the chest nearly five months ago at Richardson’s Good Vibes Bar & Grill is a result of divine intervention.
“It was all God,” he told The Dallas Morning News on Sunday. “He wrapped his arms right around me and took care of it.”
Stemper’s heart was severely damaged after he and three others were attacked during a May 6 mass stabbing at Good Vibes. The community gathered Sunday afternoon at the bar to celebrate the group’s recovery and raise funds for two of the survivors.
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Stemper was stabbed by Stephen Kwembe, 28, inside the bar before suffering a minor stroke and flatlining twice. He said he underwent an operation that night to staple the bottom of his heart together.
“I may never get back to what I was before this… but I think if it happened [again] right now, I can’t imagine I wouldn’t jump off this chair and go try to help,” Stemper said.
Richardson police said Kwembe also stabbed Felicia Cansino, who was bartending at Good Vibes, along with Reuben Blackwell and Garrett Ledger. Kwembe was shot and killed outside the bar by police after refusing repeated commands to drop the knife.
Cansino was the only one who met Kwembe before the attack, when she said she refused to serve him in February after he threw his ID and cash at her. He stabbed her twice in the stomach, twice in the back and three times along her left hand and arm before Blackwell, Ledger and Stemper hopped over the bar to pull him off her.
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In an August interview with The News, Cansino said she’d been attending physical therapy twice a week in an attempt to regain movement in parts of her left hand. The hardest part, she said, is healing from the mental trauma.
People dance as the band plays at Good Vibes Bar & Grill in Richardson, Texas, Sunday, October 4, 2026.The bar was hosting a benefit for the four survivors of a stabbing that occurred there earlier this year.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
Stemper said he lost peripheral vision on his right side and now has to wear two different pairs of glasses to see. As soon as he was able to walk, Stemper said he returned to the bar because that’s where his people are.
“It’s our place,” he said.
Stemper said he still prays for the his attacker’s soul. He said he can’t imagine what motivated Kwembe to think that hurting others was the answer.
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Related: Richardson police fatally shoot man who allegedly hurt 4 in knife attack at restaurant
Dispatch audio of the hours beforehand revealed Kwembe called a Garland police non-emergency line and said he was going to the bar to kill people who had wronged him and anyone who tried to intervene.
“I hope he finds peace wherever he’s at,” Stemper said. “Because he certainly didn’t have it on his last night.”
Good Vibes was busy Sunday afternoon as community members, loved ones and bar regulars chatted and laughed as a four-man band played slow country music on stage and the faint smell of cigarette smoke wafted through the air.
Attendees walked around sporting “Good Vibes Strong” T-shirts and placed blue and red paper tickets into cups to win guitars, coolers, kitchenware and more from the bar’s raffle and silent auction. According to the event poster, all proceeds would go to Cansino and Blackwell.
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The event also celebrated the six-year anniversary of the bar, located at 2121 Buckingham Drive.
Ledger, 43, of Garland, sat at the bar as Stemper passed by and patted him on the shoulder.
Steven Edwards, left, and Garrett Ledger talk over drinks at Good Vibes Bar & Grill in Richardson, Sunday, October 4, 2026. Ledger was stabbed seven times the night of the attack. He said “it was surreal” when he returned to the bar after recovering from his injuries.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
Though he was stabbed seven times, all his operations were done within a night, Ledger said, and he was able to go home and recuperate. He said he already had a regular therapist, who helped him sort through the mental trauma.
“When I first came back here, it was surreal. It was difficult,” Ledger, who’s been a patron at the bar since 2024, said. “But I was a lot more fortunate than some others who were involved.”
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Donna Searle and Michelle Lanahan were at the bar the night of the attack. Both said they’re still in shock.
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Lanahan helped staunch the bleeding of Cansino and Ledger’s wounds before paramedics arrived. She said she walked into the bar for months after the attack on high alert, always looking over her shoulder to make sure everything was alright. She keeps coming back, she said, because the bar feels like home.
“It’s like Cheers, where everyone knows your name,” she said.
Searle still gets spooked when people approach her from behind, but she said she believes the attack bonded everyone who was there that night.
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“It affected everybody differently even if they were involved in more serious ways than others,” Ledger said as he looked at Lanahan sitting beside him.
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Cansino told The News in August she hopes to come back to the job she loves. She and Blackwell also attended the benefit but weren’t available for an interview.
Stemper returned to work about a month ago and celebrated his 64th birthday last month. He’s ready to leave the attack behind him, he said, and enjoy the life he was gifted.
“I don’t want [this] to define me,” he said.
The exterior of Good Vibes Bar & Grill in Richardson, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
Mental health resources
The Here For Texas Mental Health Navigation Line connects North Texans with mental health resources customized to each caller at 972-525-8181 or HereForTexas.com.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has a 24-hour crisis hotline at 800-273-8255. A confidential online chat is also available at suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
The Crisis Text Line offers 24-hour support. Text “HOME” to 741741 or find more information at crisistextline.org.