An 80-year-old Navy vet who tried to save his neighbor while allegedly being attacked by a University of Connecticut student is “very lucky” to have survived, his wife said.

John Franco, of Willington, was listed in stable condition at a hospital late Wednesday, five days after police say UConn senior Peter Manfredonia, 23, killed Theodore DeMers, 62, with an “edged” weapon, the Connecticut Post reports.

“He’s a very kind and gentle person … would not hurt a soul,” Franco’s wife, Alice, told the newspaper. “I’m under the impression he had no clue what he was walking out to.”

Franco, a US Navy veteran, was seriously hurt when he tried to help DeMers during the attack Friday in Willington, where Manfredonia’s motorcycle broke down, Connecticut State Police said.

Franco saw the alleged attack unfold as DeMers offered Manfredonia — who was captured by police without incident late Wednesday in Maryland — a ride on his four-wheeler, police said.

Other neighbors saved Franco’s life by yelling at Manfredonia and scaring him off before giving Franco first aid, his wife said.

“He’s a very lucky man,” Franco’s wife told the newspaper. “He’s hanging in there.”

Franco’s most serious injuries were to his hands. Doctors believe he will ultimately be able to use them again, but the retired finance exec must prepare for a “new normal,” his wife said.

The couple talks on the phone daily, but Alice has been unable to visit her husband due to the coronavirus pandemic, she said.

“He sounds positive,” she said. “I feel happy about that.”

After killing DeMers and seriously wounding Franco, authorities said, Manfredonia later killed a second Connecticut man when he went to the Derby home of Nicholas Eisele, a 23-year-old acquaintance from high school who was found shot to death Sunday.