“So what do you do if someone approaches you with a knife?” Mr Paul asks the young group after showing them his injury. One of them replies without hesitation: “I’m cutting, I’m out of there.”
The victim-turned-activist agrees, as he offers every teenager he runs into in Hainault the same advice: “Don’t let your pride let you die. Run and fucking live to fight another day, yeah?”
Mr Paul knows what he is talking about – he says he has been stabbed 18 times in two separate attacks. Now he runs FazAmnesty, a weapon amnesty charity, taking unwanted knives, axes, guns and swords off young people and delivering them to police with no questions asked.
Describing the worst of his two incidents – when he confronted someone who had assaulted his girlfriend and was stabbed in the neck with a large kitchen knife – he says: “I could feel the trickle of blood but I couldn’t see anything. I was bleeding out.
“It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done – not running. Physically, mentally and emotionally I had to rebuild – my mental space and my physical body. The damage was past just being stabbed. I had damage to my nerves, I had brachial plexus injuries and I had 40 per cent blood loss.
“It took a while to get rid of anger and revenge and feeling sorry for myself. But I turned it into my fire, my infinite petrol tank. I want to get back at knife crime – the whole thing, not this one individual. But it is hard to let go of revenge. Often, I sit there and wonder. If I was to go back in time and stab the person who stabbed me 15 years ago, would I be here now helping people?”
Esta historia es de la edición May 06, 2024 de The Independent.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición May 06, 2024 de The Independent.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Leclerc lays curse to make it a Monaco home win at last
Under the blazing Mediterranean sunshine and crisp blue skies on this most prestigious of racing Sundays, this famed principality’s prodigal son finally realised his day of days.
Wembley exposed the flaws in City's unbeatable facade
Pep Guardiola identified the culprit, the man who cost Manchester City the double.
Saints hit jackpot as Leeds fail to escape play-off woe
After the expensive relegation, the lucrative promotion. Southampton contrived to finish bottom of the Premier League in a year when they spent some £160m, had three managers and only mustered six wins.
WHEN OASIS DRIED UP
Twenty years ago, the band played a disastrous Glastonbury show which, says Mark Beaumont, marked the beginning of the end for Liam and Noel Gallagher's Britpop dream
Would you take financial advice from a reality star?
As celebs from popular UK shows such as 'Love Island' and 'Geordie Shore' are charged with promoting an unauthorised foreign exchange scheme, Katie Rosseinsky delves into the dubious world of 'finfluencers' and their Instagram followers
PREMIUM BOND
Fans of 007 are rifling through car boots and sniping on eBay auctions to collect coveted memorabilia. Now, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson poised to take the role, a space on the shelf awaits.
Babies among dozens killed in fires across Indian capital
At least 37 people, including several children, were killed ina series of fires in a 24-hour period as India battles a brutal heatwave. Seven newborn babies died after a children’s hospital caught fire in the national capital Delhi, while another blaze in a residential complex in the city killed three people.
Modi courts young millions as poll momentum falters
In a bid to broaden its appeal, India's ruling party is pumping out online games, TV parodies and cartoons carrying divisive messages.
IDF airstrikes hit ‘safe area' in Rafah killing at least 35
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more were injured ina city in the southern area of Gaza, Palestinian authorities said yesterday.
Russian strike on Kharkiv shopping centre kills 14 as Zelensky calls for Western support
Ukrainian officials have said 44 people were injured while seven people remain missing