"Every venue should have a bleed kit" - donated kit saves life in Halstead
Julie Taylor lost her grandson, Liam, to knife crime five years ago and has donated 400 bleed kits around Essex since
An anti knife crime campaigner says "we need to be particularly wary this side of Christmas" after one of her donated bleed kits was used to save a life outside a Halstead pub.
Julie Taylor lost her grandson, Liam, after he was stabbed to death outside a pub in Writtle, near Chelmsford, on 31 January 2020.
He suffered two stab wounds to the heart and tragically, died at the scene outside the Rose and Crown Pub.
She tells Greatest Hits Radio "it's been five years since Liam's death and nothing's changed."
Ms Taylor set up the Liam Taylor legacy after the death of her grandson which aims to educate and raise funds for bleed kits and raise awareness to knife crime.
She says she's donated "400" to venues around Essex but is campaigning for every venue nationally to have one.
"Whenever we donate a kit, we never ever want it to be used. Every venue in our country needs to have a kit because any kit can be used for any catastrophic bleed" says Ms Taylor.
One of the Liam Taylor Legacy bleed kits was donated to a pub outside the Dorrington Hotel in Halstead and used on Sunday 24th November after a man suffered stab wounds.
According to a witness, "the poor man wouldn't have survived without the bleed kit".
Ms Taylor says "this could have been another fatality, thank goodness the kit was there and the young lad is on the mend.
"The kits are so needed I can't reiterate this enough."
"Especially this side of Christmas, we don't want people walking around with knives but unfortunately they do.
"Until we educate people and stop them from carrying knives, things aren't going to change."
Essex police have arrested a man on suspicion of grievous bodily harm in connection with the incident.
Officers are still encouraging witnesses to come forward.
Detective Sergeant Luke Howard, of Braintree CID, said:
“Our work on this incident is continuing today at pace and we’ve got a number of targeted lines of enquiry that we’re pursuing.
“Clearly, this incident has taken place in front of a large number of people outside The Dorrington Hotel so I know there will be a number of people who have witnessed it and I would urge anyone who has information to please come forward.”
If you have more information, please call 101 and cite incident 85 of 24 November.
Ms Taylor asks people to follow the Liam Taylor Legacy Facebook page to help raise awareness to knife crime.