According to a report from The Seattle Times, 20-year-old Blessing Gainey and 22-year-old Vincent Sisounong were sentenced to 25 years each in prison Friday for randomly selecting and illegally entering a suburban Seattle home last year and assaulting then-18-year-old Deep Rawat with a knife as he slept.

“This is an absolutely horrifying crime. The only word I can use is ‘merciless.’ This went on for a long time. Upstairs, downstairs. It was cruel,” Judge Jean Rietschel said at the two men’s sentencing hearing, according to the newspaper.

Q13 Fox reports that both Gainey and Sisounong pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted murder and first-degree burglary.

Rawat, who suffered serious cuts to his leg, shoulder and head, would not have survived the attack had he not been able to escape and reach a neighbor who helped stem his blood loss until emergency personnel arrived, The Associated Press reports.

“It’s definitely a big step and move forward,” Rawat said, according to Q13 Fox. “I mean, it happened a year ago or so; some of the wounds mentally are still kind of fresh, but this is definitely a large step.”

Gainey was arrested after his fingerprints were discovered at Rawat’s home. He eventually named Sisounong as his accomplice.