{"id":3431,"date":"2025-05-28T13:49:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T13:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/?p=3431"},"modified":"2025-05-28T21:34:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T21:34:01","slug":"i-thought-id-been-punched-but-three-strangers-had-stabbed-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/28\/i-thought-id-been-punched-but-three-strangers-had-stabbed-me\/","title":{"rendered":"I thought I\u2019d been punched \u2013 but three strangers had stabbed me"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t\t\"Kevin\t<\/div>
There was a blow to the back of my head, then another to my back causing me to stumble forwards (Picture: Kevin Tingley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I think I\u2019ve been stabbed.\u2019<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d utter those words, but in 2020, walking back to my nan\u2019s house after her funeral<\/a>, I was headed towards an underpass when three strangers appeared out of nowhere and attacked me.<\/p>\n

There was a blow to the back of my head, then another to my back causing me to stumble forwards. <\/p>\n

Luckily, I had enough of my wits about me to grab one of my attackers by the arm and shout: \u2018What are you doing?\u2019 but as quick as the assault started<\/a> it was over. The three men ran away.<\/p>\n

I started walking away again, dazed, dizzy and confused at what had just happened, assuming I\u2019d been punched. And then I noticed my shirt.<\/p>\n

What had been pristine white just moments before, was now soaked with blood<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Kevin\t<\/div>
I had a wife and two kids of my own and long moved out of my hometown (Picture: Kevin Tingley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From about the age of seven, my nan was my world.<\/p>\n

Mum had left when I was a baby and dad was in and out of prison, so it wasn\u2019t long before she stepped in to give my brother and I stability.<\/p>\n

Nan tended to our every need: buying our school uniforms, cooking our meals and washing our clothes. She was a strong, resilient woman and the beating heart of our family.<\/p>\n

So when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s<\/a> in her eighties, it was hard to watch her slowly decline.<\/p>\n

By that point I had a wife and two kids of my own and long moved out of my hometown, but I still made sure to check in often.<\/p>\n

Sadly, in early 2020 I learned that she had cancer and wasn\u2019t having treatment. She said she was ready to go.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Kevin\t<\/div>
I never could have imagined what would happen on the day of her funeral (Picture: Kevin Tingley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course that didn\u2019t make it any easier for us as a family when, in late February, she did indeed pass away \u2013 and it crushed me that I never quite made it to her bedside to say goodbye in time. <\/p>\n

But I never could have imagined what would happen on the day of her funeral.<\/p>\n

On March 27, 2020, five weeks after she passed and quite early into the first lockdown, 16 of us socially distanced in a church to say goodbye.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After, as we couldn\u2019t have a traditional wake<\/a>, a few of us (in our bubble) decided to go to Nan\u2019s and raise a glass in her garden. I got dropped off at the shops, which were walking distance away, to pick up beer.<\/p>\n

A simple, routine, task.<\/p>\n

Instead, as I walked home, those three men turned what was already a bad day into the worst of my life.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Kevin\t<\/div>
I can recall a doctor saying I had internal bleeding and that I was being rushed to surgery (Picture: Kevin Tingley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After they\u2019d scattered, a woman pulled up beside me in her car to ask if I was okay. That\u2019s the last thing I really remember.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At one poin,t I was surrounded by paramedics and police. I could hear screaming, and I vaguely remember telling someone to tell my kids I love them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In hospital, I can recall a doctor saying I had internal bleeding and that I was being rushed to surgery. As they wheeled me to an operating room, I caught a glimpse of my wife standing outside of A&E. I can only imagine how scared she must have been.<\/p>\n

My first memory after waking up is seeing the scar down my stomach<\/a>. I burst into tears.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Kevin\t<\/div>
I burst into tears (Picture: Kevin Tingley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back then, I was pretty naive about knife crime. I thought it happened to certain people and only in certain parts of the country. It didn\u2019t feel real or even possible that this could happen to me.<\/p>\n

But as I now know, knife crime can happen to anyone<\/a>, anywhere, at any time.<\/p>\n

After calming me down, the doctors and police explained I\u2019d been stabbed eight times: four times in the back (one of which had ruptured my spleen), twice in the head, once under my chest, and once under my arm.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think I properly processed any of this. Even after I went home, the numbness remained, but so did terror.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t matter that I was now miles away from where the attack had happened \u2013 I was terrified to leave the house, even someone knocking on the door unexpectedly was enough to make me panic.<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\tKnife crime – the stats\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n

England and Wales has seen an 80% increase in knife crime in the last 10 years. According to a study compiled up to June 2024, there have been 50,973 police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument. <\/p>\n

The same study highlights that there have been 225 murders involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales in the 12 months to June 2024, 78 of the victims were aged under 25, and 10 of the victims were aged under 16. <\/p>\n

Kate Brooks, producer of Coronation Street, said: ‘It’s vitally important to shine a light on this topic, and really show the impact knife crime has on not only the victim and their loved ones, but also the wider community. <\/p>\n

‘With the alarming statistics, we want to do anything we can as a show to combat this violent endemic. After watching this harrowing, but important story unfold, if one person thinks twice about bringing a knife to a fight, then we’ve achieved our aim to raise awareness.’<\/p>\n

The Ben Kinsella Trust has been working closely with the show on the storyline. You can find more information and support on knife crime by visiting their website<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Unsurprisingly, my mental health declined <\/a>as a result, and at my lowest, I didn\u2019t see the point in carrying on. I\u2019ve only managed to learn how to navigate these feelings because of my wife and kids.<\/p>\n

Even though it\u2019s been five years since the attack, and at my wife\u2019s urging, I underwent therapy, I still struggle with big crowds and aggressive behaviour because I\u2019m always afraid it could happen again.<\/p>\n

And sadly, that is a very real risk as, in the year ending March 2024, there were around 50,500 offences involving a sharp instrument in England and Wales. That\u2019s an increase of 4.4% from the previous year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even more worryingly, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 83% of homicide victims aged between 13 and 19 were killed with a sharp instrument in that same time period. <\/p>\n

What more is it going to take for the Government to take this seriously? <\/p>\n

Yes, the men who attacked me were all arrested, charged, and sentenced. However, they only received around seven or eight years’ jail time \u2013 it isn\u2019t enough considering the scars and trauma I have been left with for a lifetime.<\/p>\n

I just want to live a normal life. I don\u2019t want to have to worry about my kids being stabbed or for them to have to worry about me being hurt again.<\/p>\n

We must put an end to knife crime. Because if it can happen to me, it really can happen to anyone.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story you\u2019d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Share your views in the comments below.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was a blow to the back of my head, then another to my back causing me to stumble forwards (Picture: Kevin Tingley) \u2018I think I\u2019ve been stabbed.\u2019 I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d utter those words, but in 2020, walking back to my nan\u2019s house after her funeral, I was headed towards an underpass when three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3431"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3431"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3439,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3431\/revisions\/3439"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}