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| Junior doctor Matt Smith saved the life of the 56-year-old victim of the Leytonstone stabbing Junior doctor who saved the life of Leytonstone tube stabbing victim ignored warnings to flee the scene despite fearing it was start of another Paris style attack |
Daily Mail | 8 December 2015
The junior doctor who saved the life of the Leytonstone stabbing victim ignored pleas to flee the scene despite fearing it was the start of a Paris-style terror attack, it emerged today.
Matt Smith, 28, had got off a train at the tube station and was on his way to meet his fiancée for a romantic dinner after an 11-hour shift when he heard people screaming on Saturday night.
When he asked a woman what was happening, she told him: 'Don't go down there, there's a man with a knife.'
But he ignored her warnings and ran down the stairs of the station to help a 56-year-old man who had been slashed in the throat.
Dr Smith put pressure on the deep gash and helped the victim to his feet before helping him out of the station.
After his heroics, Matt spent five hours 'covered in blood' giving a witness statement to police.
Just hours later he returned to his job as a junior doctor at Homerton University Hospital.
Dr Smith today recalled the moment he found the victim lying in a pool of blood, saying: 'I got off the tube at Leytonstone and there was a lot of commotion.
'A woman told me, 'Don't go down there, there's a man with a knife', but I went down anyway to see what was happening.
'As I walked down the stairs there was a guy lying in a pool of blood, with another passenger kneeling with him trying to help him.
'The passenger, who was an Irish guy, had taken off his jumper to try and stop the bleeding.
'I didn't see anyone with a knife around at the point, so I approached him and said, 'I'm a doctor, can I help?'
'I tried to stem the flow of blood. I took off the jumper to assess the wound, but when I did I saw the injuries were pretty extensive so I very quickly but the jumper back and applied pressure.
'But then I heard some noises and the attacker came back. He was just the other side of the barriers and getting closer.'
'There were a few other passengers, really brave people, confronting him and trying to distract him. Everyone else suddenly ran away upstairs.'
Witnesses filmed the scene of the attack at Leytonstone Underground station on Saturday night
A photo of the victim slumped in a pool of blood circulated on social media after the knife attack
He added: 'The Irish guy I was with got up and went to the barriers to try and keep him away.
'I knew I had to get away if he came any closer, but I didn't want to leave the victim there so I asked him if he thought he could stand up, and he said yes.
'I got him up on his feet and we made it up the stairs where we waited for paramedics.
Muhaydin Mire has been charged with attempted murder. He was remanded in custody today
'They took about ten minutes to get there, but it felt like ten hours. I just stayed with the victim applying pressure to his neck.
'All the time we were waiting we didn't know what was going to happen. There was loads of noise downstairs and I thought this could be the start of a bigger terrorist attack.
'At any moment I thought the guy with the knife could come up and start attacking us all. We couldn't see any of what was happening down there.'
Dr Smith added: 'Then eventually the police came up having Tasered him. The paramedics were amazing as well, they risked everything and went down there when they arrived.
'Even though he told me his name over and over again, I can't remember the victim's name.
'The Irish guy was so brave too, without him I don't think the victim would have survived.'
Dr Smith stayed with the police until 1.30am on Sunday giving statements, before going to bed ready to get up at 6.30am for work.
He said: 'I was meant to be having a special Christmas dinner with my fiancee Rachel, but that obviously went out of the window.
'I only told her after the man had been detained what had happened.
'She was pretty worried and had a lot of questions. I wasn't quite able to answer them all.
'I didn't tell anyone at work, I didn't see the need to. They've gradually found out over the past two days, but I don't think I did anything that special.
'It's just what any doctor would do in the same situation. I guess it proves Jeremy Hunt wrong, after his comments in February saying junior doctors have a lack of duty and won't go above and beyond.'
Dr Smith proposed to English teacher Rachel Warden, 26, in July, and they are due to marry next summer.
He has been working at Homerton University Hospital since August, where he hopes to qualify as an anaesthetist.
Another man, engineer David Pethers, 33, was also cut in the neck as he tried to tackle the man before police arrived. He did not require hospital treatment.
The police said the man who was stabbed in the neck was seriously hurt but is now 'stable' in hospital.
Muhaydin Mire, 29, of Leytonstone, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with the attempted murder of the 56-year-old man, who has not been named.
The court was told he said the attack was 'for his brothers in Syria'. He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance.
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