Margaret Parsons, 47, repeatedly lashed out with a knife at her husband Gordon, 58.
But hospital doctors who patched up the wounds to his chest, chin and bicep noticed he had liver damage.
And yesterday he pleaded with a judge to spare his wife jail because the attack led to him having life-sav- ing treatment. His plea was rejected and she was jailed for 16 months.
The court heard the couple started arguing after drinking at their home in Launceston, Cornwall, last May.
Philip Lee, prosecuting at Truro Crown Court, said Margaret Parsons stormed into the lounge clutching a kitchen knife and told her husband she would cut his throat.
She then slashed his chin before sinking it into his chest. She admit- ted wounding her husband.
But Joanna Martin, defending, re- ferred to a statement in which Mr Parsons said he still loved her and that “she in effect saved his life because when he was taken into hospital they discovered the seriousness of his liver disease and he is now getting treatment for it”.
Judge Christopher Harvey Clark QC said the blows were so violent that she should go to prison.
