In a stunning reversal of fortune, a 61-year-old man who was stabbed outside his Napa County home defended himself by taking the knife out and stabbing his assailant back, police say.

The stabbing was reported around 9 a.m. Saturday in the 5200 block of Silverado Trail, according to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff’s spokesman Henry Wofford said the victim had gone out to check a circuit breaker after the power went out in his residence. While outside, the man encountered a stranger, later identified as Andrew Dixon, 33, standing on his property. The men had never met before, Wofford said.

When the victim confronted Dixon for trespassing, officials said, Dixon responded by pulling out a knife and stabbing the victim in the back. The two got in a fight, and as the pair wrestled, the 61-year-old man pulled the knife out from his back and used it to stab Dixon in the torso right below his chest, according to Wofford.

“You have a fight-or-flight-type personality,” Wofford said. “This person was a fight personality.”

The stabbing brought Dixon to his knees and he remained subdued until authorities arrived. Both men were taken to Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.

Dixon was discharged from the hospital Saturday and booked into Napa County jail on suspicion of attempted murder, elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon. He remains in custody without bail, though charges had yet to be submitted Monday to the Napa County district attorney’s office, said spokesman Carlos Villatoro.

After surviving the attack, the man was released from the hospital, Wofford said.

“This story has a happy ending,” Wofford said. “Not all of them end this way.”