The father of a boy who was attacked by a gang wielding a hammer, box cutter and machete has praised a teenage girl who saved his life.
The 14-year-old victim was stabbed twice in the chest, once in the face and once in the arm in Newsham Park, Liverpool.
He is being treated at Alder Hey Hospital, where his condition is described as serious but not life-threatening.
His father, who cannot be named in order to protect his son’s identity, told the Liverpool Echo: “A young girl saved his life – she was only 14. She put pressure on the wounds and took his top off.
“There were four or five attackers and one had a machete, one had a Stanley knife and one had a hammer. He managed to fight off two of them and fought for his life.”
Applying pressure to a wound helps to staunch blood flow while waiting for medical assistance.
A group of males were seen leaving the scene on foot after the incident, which occurred at 9pm. A cordon has been set up in the park and CCTV, forensic and witness enquires are ongoing.
Detective Inspector Sean Kelly-Martland said: “The local community will be shocked to learn that such a young person has been the victim of this brutal attack.
“Newsham Park should be a place that people of all ages can enjoy on a warm summer evening, safe in the knowledge that they will not witness or fall victim to an incident of this nature.
“We are speaking to a number of witnesses and know that there were other young people in the skate park, as well as other people in the park, at the time this incident happened. We appeal to those people to contact us if they saw anything which in hindsight seems suspicious and may be linked to this incident.”
Det Insp Kelly-Martland added: “I want to make it absolutely clear that Merseyside Police will not tolerate the use of knives as weapons.
“Incidents such as - and the hurt they can cause not just to the victim, but their family and the wider community - only strengthen our resolve to keep educating young people on the dangers of knives, and rid our streets and open spaces of knife crime to prevent such attacks from happening again.
“With the public’s help, we can make Merseyside a safer place and I appeal to anyone who has any information in relation to this incident to contact police so we can find those responsible and bring them to justice.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact @MerPolCC on Twitter, Merseyside police Contact Centre on Facebook or call 101 quoting reference 19100425958 or call @CrimestoppersUK on 0800 555 111.