'I'm 15, don't let me die': Teenage boy stabbed to death in south-east London begged bystanders as he bled out in street

23 September 2024, 10:50 | Updated: 23 September 2024, 11:14

The teenage victim of a fatal stabbing in south-east London told witnesses "I'm 15, don't let me die" as he lay bleeding in the street.

The Met was called to reports of a disturbance on Eglinton Road, Woolwich, at around 6.30pm on Sunday.

The teenage victim was found with a serious stab wound to the leg and died a short time later from the injury.

A 43-year-old woman who witnessed the attack ran to the schoolboy's aid and attempted to stem the bleeding from the wound as he lay injured in the street.

Describing the boy as "laying face down on the floor", the woman, who wishes not to be named, described a "massive pool of blood" forming beneath the boy as she used sheets to stem the bleeding.

The woman, who lived in the area for 14 years, said she spotted the boy dying in the road outside her flat after hearing screams.

Speaking by the police cordon in Woolwich, she told the PA news agency: "I was upstairs in my bedroom, I had my nightshirt on, I heard screaming from across the road saying 'someone's been stabbed, someone's been stabbed'.

"So, I grabbed a sheet, I had no shoes or socks on or anything, and I just literally run to where just near where the tent is, and there was someone laying face down on the floor.

Describing how she "turned him over" to assess his injury, she explained that the boy "had a gash in his head and I thought 'that's not bleeding enough'.

"His leg moved and there was a massive pool of blood, so I just stemmed the flow of blood until the paramedics and that got here.

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"I asked if I could go and shower because I was covered in his blood, and they said 'yes' so I went in and showered.

"I come back out and they (the police) called me over because I was the last one with him - he was going to me 'I'm 15, I'm 15, don't let me die' and I said to him 'you're not going to die, mate'."

The boy's next of kin have been informed, police confirmed.

No arrests have yet been made in connection with the incident and a crime scene remains in place.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson said: "Police were called approximately 18:35hrs on Sunday, 22 September to reports of a disturbance on Eglinton Road, SE18.

"Officers attended and found a teenage boy with a stab injury. Despite the efforts of officers and paramedics at the scene, he sadly died a short time later."

Anyone with information is asked to call police via 101 quoting reference CAD 5989/22Sep.