Man nearly bled out from ‘Rambo knife’ wound while people filmed on their phones

A man in his 20s didn’t even know he’d been stabbed at first, but he could see people stood around, phones out, filming. He was losing blood.

‘I felt a sharp pain, then it was hard to breathe and I could feel a wetness’, the stab victim, who wants to stay anonymous, said.

‘That’s when I looked down and saw the knife sticking out of me.’

It was a 15-inch ‘Rambo’ knife – an illegal blade in the UK, usually with saw teeth on the spine.

The knife damaged his kidney, causing internal bleeding, doctors discovered when he arrived at St George’s Hospital, Tooting, south London.

‘Coming into hospital is a blur, I don’t really remember it’, he said.

‘I had an operation that saved my life, but it’s not just the wounds that need to heal. I’m still trying to process what happened and deal with the trauma.’

Hospital staff are seeing such injuries more and more. At least 500 people were admitted with wounds from knives and sharp objects last year.

Nearly half of murders in the UK have involved a knife, stabbing or sharp instrument in the last two years.

School children have been caught carrying knives. Online knife stores offer ‘mystery boxes’ with surprise weapons inside.

A mass stabbing in Southport last year left four young girls – Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and six-year-old Bebe King – dead, sparking anger and mourning across the country.

There are efforts to end the violence.

A secure bin where people can anonymously dump weapons at St George’s has had 87 dropped inside already, including machetes, Zombie knives and knuckledusters.

Cleo Kenington, consultant in emergency general surgery and major trauma at St George’s, said: ‘I’ve had to physically remove knives from patients on the operating table to stop them bleeding to death

‘It can take many teams of surgeons working on them, especially when the knife pierces multiple organs such as the heart and the guts.

‘These patients are young, vulnerable and scared – they have their whole lives ahead of them and they often say “I don’t want to die”.’

But ‘tragically’, Cleo says, ‘many patients die before they can reach hospital as their injuries are so severe’.

It’s hoped the bin, provided by knife crime charity Word 4 Weapons, might go some way to stop that.

The partnership with Wandsworth Council and Wandsworth Community Safety Partnership makes St George’s the UK’s first hospital to install one.

Jacqueline Totterdell, CEO of St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Groupd: ‘Keeping staff and patients safe is our top priority – that’s why we’re working with local partners to keep weapons out of our hospitals.

‘I want to thank our excellent teams for providing vital care and compassion to those affected by knife crime.’

Local MP Rosena Allin-Khan said: ‘This is an excellent initiative by St George’s and, through the number of weapons recovered, we are already seeing the progress that bins like these are making in taking even more knives off our streets.’

Last month, the Labour government announced £9.4million of funding for youth workers in London hospitals that see a significant number of young knife crime victims.

Commander Hayley Sewart, responsible for knife crime at the Metropolitan Police, said: ‘Knife crime has a hugely damaging impact on victims, families and communities.

‘The Met remains focused on tackling knife crime and violence in London by carrying out proactive operations including high visibility patrols in hotspot areas, targeting violent offenders, and reducing the supply and access to weapons.

‘Prevention is key. We have made a significant contribution to the rapid review of online knife sales as well as working closely with the London Violence Reduction Unit and the NHS to divert individuals and young people from knife crime, as we cannot tackle this alone.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.