Max and Mason Teenagers' legacy spreads beyond city thanks to pal

THE legacy of murdered Knowle West teenagers Max Dixon and Mason Rist is spreading beyond Bristol thanks to anew campaign to get bleed kits installed across the South West and even further afield.

- Lewis CLARKE

The innocent pair were stabbed to death outside Mason’s home in January last year as they went to pickup a pizza. Five people, including four teenagers and a 45-year-old man, have since been convicted of their murders.

For Mia Taylor, one of Mason's closest friends, life fractured in that moment.

She was 16, a teenager like any other - until she wasn’t.

“I remember sitting up in bed and seeing stories on social media saying ‘RIP?’” Mia recalls. “I thought it was a sick joke. I laughed. Until I messaged Mason... and called him... and got no response. My heart started to beat fast, and tears came. I messaged his family and got sent the news report. I went to my parents and collapsed, screaming into their arms. The world stopped spinning. Both of us died that day - but only one of us stopped breathing.”

In the months that followed Mason’s murder, Mia didn’t speak to anyone. Grief had swallowed her whole. But as the weight of loss bore down, a different kind of urgency began to rise. Stories of others lost to knife crime - not just in Bristol but across the country - began to mount. What she saw, repeatedly, was the missed opportunity to save lives. What if help had come faster? What if those around had been equipped to act?

“Over 40% of lives could have been saved with a bleed kit,’ Mia says. “I don’t want to lose any more lives when they could have had a higher chance - with just a simple kit.”