When Jessica Knight was walking through a park, listening to some music, she never imagined she would be pounced on and attacked by a total stranger and subjected to a frenzied knife attack.
The 14-year-old was on her way to meet friends at around 5pm when she took a shortcut through Lancashire’s Astley Park in Chorley and was brutally knifed 20 times in the chest, neck and stomach, and left to die in a pool of her own blood. Luckily, Knight was discovered and rushed to hospital for emergency surgery, but as doctors battled to save her, the severity of her injuries led to a stroke.
That was 2008. In the 11 years since, Knight has endured numerous operations and has struggled at times to cope with how her life changed irrevocably, through no fault of her own, after the unprovoked attack.
Even though she was a teenager when it happened – and motherhood was the last thing on her mind – a nagging doubt developed that she might never be able to have children, due to the huge trauma her body had suffered.
But now Knight, who has just turned 26, and her partner of two years, Kevin Seaman, are celebrating the birth of their son Bode Seaman. The baby boy arrived naturally, weighing 7 pounds 8oz, at Royal Preston Hospital on 2 May.
Speaking to HuffPost UK from her hospital bed, Knight said: “I feel very emotional at Bode’s arrival and it all still feels like a dream.
Kevin shed tears of emotion but I just feel stunned and exhausted by the labour but incredibly happy.”
Knight confessed she had feared the horrific injuries to her body and the stroke she suffered might have affected her chance of motherhood.
“I actually had a talk to my doctor about it a long time ago while I was still a teenager,” she said. “Not because I wanted to have a baby at that stage, but because I was worried for the future and felt I would sooner know.
“The doctor told me that conceiving should not be a problem but their worry would be around me carrying the baby and the changes caused by pregnancy and also the birth as my body had already been through such trauma.”
Jessica’s pregnancy was a “happy surprise” for the couple and despite the fears of doctors, she had a relatively smooth pregnancy.
“I didn’t really have any problem with my body physically – it was more the mental exhaustion that hit me.”
The vicious attack on Knight was carried out by 21-year-old Kristofer Beddar who was found guilty of attempted murder and was jailed for life in December 2008 with a minimum of 12 years.
The trial heard how the French national who was living with his English family at the time, habitually carried a knife and had drunk half a bottle of whisky before launching the attack on Knight. He later confessed to his mother after seeing reports on the television – and she turned him into the police.
Beddar claimed he had no memory of attacking Knight and had no motive to kill her. Knight suffered stab wounds to her bowel, chest and neck, narrowly missing her main artery, and she had seven punctures to her back. Her eye socket was also fractured and her eyelid was partially severed. She had to be put into a coma due to the severity of her injuries, when she suffered the stroke.
Recovery took a long time and the ordeal left her with physical and mental scars – a lasting reminder of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even now, Knight still suffers from severe nerve pain down her left-hand side and gets pins and needles.
She told HuffPost UK: “It has also affected my brain activity as I can’t process information as quickly as other people. My speech is sometimes affected too and gets worse when I am tired and can’t concentrate.”
Knight suffers from a lot of fatigue and one of the things she has found the hardest to cope with since her attack is the struggle to find employment.
“I just could not hack having so many restrictions on my life and trying my hardest by going to college but having doors shut in my face when I tried to find work,” said Knight.
She has done ”a few different odd jobs over the years” but has found it hard to secure any lasting employment. “I would have to work part-time as it would be too exhausting for me to work full-time. I wanted to have a job doing something creative and it was difficult to accept that I could not get the job I wanted through no fault of my own when criminals could.”
She reached rock bottom at the age of about 17 when she ended up being sectioned and spent time in a mental health unit.
However, the scars of her ordeal have slowly healed, she said, thanks to the support of friends and family and she has refused to let the attack beat her.
And the arrival of her baby boy has been the icing on the cake.
“Our baby Bode is a new start for my life,” says Knight, who gave birth to her son naturally after being induced when she was 12 days overdue.
“I am in a good place now and feel more secure in life. I am looking forward to being a mum and seeing how it all unravels.”
After everything that has happened, she is excited about this new stage of her life: “It is good to come through the other side and have a happy ending with a fresh beginning.”