My hero Kuba stood up to a monster with a knife to save my life

MUM TELLS OF DEVASTATING LOSS OF SON MURDERED BY HER EVIL EX

- ANN CUSACK, AMY WALKER

WITH a cheeky grin and a wicked sense of humour, Jakub Szymanski was like any other 15-year-old finding his way in the world.

Full of mischief and energy, his smiling eyes beam out from the many pictures his loving mum holds close.

They're a poignant reminder of her funny, caring boy who bravely stepped in to save her life when she had little hope of survival.

Speaking for the first time, Katarzyna Bastek has told of her family's grief now that her ex-partner has been jailed for life for murdering her son and trying to kill her.

Jakub, 15, died after he bravely protected her, sacrificing himself as she was being furiously stabbed by Suleman Altaf.

Altaf fled and tried to escape justice by crossing the English Channel in a dinghy. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years at Manchester Crown Court this month.

She revealed the family has courageously returned to live in the house where her 'Kuba' was murdered. They believe his spirit is still there.

"My son is gone and my family is broken," she said. "He is a hero for saving me, but I feel unbearable guilt that I am here and he is not.

"As I was being stabbed, I pleaded with Suleman 'please, leave me alone! He smiled at me and said 'I could never leave you! It was only after he had fled that I realised he had stabbed Jakub too. He was bleeding very heavily. I was begging him not to leave me.

"When I came home from the hospital, I couldn't go inside because I knew Jakub had died there. Then I felt a gentle push, helping me through the door. I know it was him. He will always be with me."

Katarzyna and Altaf met on a dating site in 2010, but it was two years before they met in person. They began dating in early 2012.