Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen is speaking out in the wake of his attack.
WSVN previously reported that Allen was smoking outside the Four Seasons hotel when a person ran full speed at him and knocked him to the ground.
Max Edward Hartley, 19, was arrested after the incident and pleaded not guilty to charges of battery, criminal mischief and abusing an elderly or disabled person, according to Local 10.
On GMA, Allen said he was "totally blindsided" by the attack.
"I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this dark sort of flash and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground," he recalled. "I landed on my backside and then continued on, hit my head on the pavement."Allen, who previously lost his left arm in a car crash in 1984, said he tried to convey to his attacker that he was not a threat.
"I reached my hand up into the air because I thought I was going to get attacked again. I just said, 'I am no threat to you,'" he said. "I don't think he knew who I was, but he must have seen I wasn't a threat 'cause I've only got one arm."
"I immediately just went to that place of just feeling grateful for the fact that I have an amazing wife and an incredible family and I just started thanking a higher power for the fact that I'm still here," he said.
Allen and his wife previously created the Raven Drum Foundation in 2001 to help survivors of trauma.
In a March 19 post on Facebook, Allen asked fans to join him in an "effort to move from confusion and shock to compassion and empathy."
