My 12-year-old daughter saved my life

My little girl was a hero. She managed to call 999 using Siri on her broken mobile – we should never underestimate kids’ strength and ingenuity

Because of the significance of my injuries, I was running out of time and wouldn’t have made it to hospital (Getty Images)

I don’t remember too much about the incident that left me bleeding out and close to death. I remember feeling a scratch on my neck, lunging awake on the sofa and trying to pull the knife away. I remember the stab I received to my abdomen – my whole body wrenched up with that one. I was also punched across the room. But other than that, the rest is kind of blurry.

It was 25 July, 2020. My daughter had her friend over for a movie night and I was dozing peacefully on the sofa, under the weight of my happy cat. While this seemingly peaceful scene played out, my *partner at the time stabbed me eight times with a knife.

Covered in my blood, he then threatened the girls – telling them not to leave the room – and smashed their phones up so they couldn’t contact anyone. I can’t begin to imagine how terrifying it must have been for them. My daughter has since told me that while she was being threatened, she could hear me begging for help from the lounge.

He then fled the scene, leaving me for dead, and leaving the girls incredibly shaken and distressed. But when it came to it, my daughter was a hero. She saved my life. And my ex seriously underestimated her strength and ingenuity.

Although the phones were all smashed up, my daughter managed to call 999 using Siri on her broken mobile.

Because of the significance of my injuries, I was running out of time and wouldn’t have made it to hospital. When somebody experiences such severe blood loss, they can literally bleed out within five minutes. That’s why, in my case, I needed urgent treatment and so London’s Air Ambulance advanced trauma team was dispatched – essentially bringing the hospital to me.

The crew arrived at my house and treated me at the scene. I’ve since been told that I had lost a lot of blood, was unconscious and incredibly pale. They gave me a blood transfusion, an emergency anaesthetic and an arterial line to monitor my blood pressure. They also fixed my perforated lung.

I had been stabbed in the face, the side of my head, the abdomen and the chest – and my throat had also been cut. I sometimes can’t believe I’m still here. I know I wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for my daughter’s quick thinking and the air ambulance team treating me at the scene.

Many people believe that an air ambulance service is simply a taxi service to and from hospital. Of course, in some places, where somebody is injured in a hard-to-reach area, that is part of what they do. But what many people don’t realise is that air ambulance services are independent charities, funded by the public.

They work alongside the NHS and ambulance services, to not only get people to and from hospital quickly, but to save lives by treating the most critically injured patients at the scene. I know from volunteering with London’s Air Ambulance Charity since my attack that they can even perform open chest surgery at the scene of the incident. This is why emergency services will immediately alert them if there’s a serious traumatic injury that needs urgent, pre-hospital care.

Once I’d been stabilised at my home, the air ambulance took me to St Mary’s Hospital, and I underwent several surgeries to repair my wounds, including having part of my bowel removed and treatment for my hands. I was left without the use of my hands for a year as the radial nerve had been severed. I was in hospital for three weeks and then had to undergo extensive physiotherapy to recover.

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Today, I feel physically and mentally stronger. Of course, I could never go back to my former home, and I had to move in with my mum for a while as she helped me eat, dress and wash until I was on the road to recovery. But now, I have a new home, I’m speaking out about my experiences to raise awareness, and I’m training to become a domestic violence worker to help other women.

I couldn’t have done it without my incredible and brave daughter. She is my guardian angel and I’m so proud of her. I also couldn’t have done it without London’s Air Ambulance Charity, which is why I’m supporting them by volunteering at their shop and raising awareness of their critical service – one that needs to raise £15 million to replace its helicopter fleet by 2024.

In London, one in four people have been affected, or have a friend or family member who has been affected, by traumatic injury. Just last year, London’s Air Ambulance assisted 1,714 people at the scene, an average of five a day. That’s why it’s so important for me to fundraise to ensure the new helicopter fleet can be secured – to save more lives like mine. Without it, I, and many others, simply wouldn’t be here today.

*The attacker pleaded guilty to attempted murder and received a life sentence in prison.

If you have been affected by anything in this story, and would like advice, please reach out to The Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, available on 0808 2000 247, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The helpline is answered by fully trained female support workers and volunteers who will answer your call in confidence.

To support London’s Air Ambulance’s Up Against Time appeal, and to find out more information, click here