'I'm 15, don't let me die': Woolwich stab victim's final words to woman who tried to save him

Metropolitan Police Territorial Support Group officers were seen at the scene in Eglinton Road
-Credit: (Image: Rosie Shead/PA Wire)


The teenage victim who was stabbed to death in Woolwich last night (Sunday, September 22) pleaded with a woman who rushed to try to save his life "I’m 15, don’t let me die”. The witness, a 43-year-old woman who has lived in the area for 14 years and did not wish to be named, said she tried to save the schoolboy as he lay bleeding in Eglinton Road outside her flat at about 6.30pm.

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.

“I turned him over, he 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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A Metropolitan police officer stands near a police cordon and forensic tent on Paget Terrace, near the scene in Eglinton Road, Woolwich, south-east London, where a teenage boy was stabbed to death on Sunday. Picture date: Monday September 23, 2024
'I just literally run to where just near where the tent is, and there was someone laying face down on the floor,' the witness said -Credit:Rosie Shead/PA Wire

“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’.”

Sadly, the boy died at the scene a short while later despite the efforts of emergency services and this witness. A crime scene is now in place on Eglinton Road but no arrests have been made.

'He’s the most polite boy, he hasn’t got attitude'

The woman later added that the victim was “the most polite boy” when she had encountered him around their neighbourhood. She told PA: “They’re 15-year-old kids. The other day, he was sitting on the wall over there and he’s the most polite boy, he hasn’t got attitude. They were all dancing in the street the other day to a TikTok song.”

When asked if she knew the victim well, she said: “No, I didn’t, but I always said hello and that, and he was always polite or moved out of the way when you were walking.”

The Met Police released a statement about the killing. It read: "A teenage boy has been stabbed to death in south-east London. The Metropolitan Police was called at around 6.30pm on Sunday to reports of a disturbance on Eglinton Road, Woolwich. The boy was found at the scene with a stab injury and he died a short time later.

"His next of kin have been informed. No arrests have been made and a crime scene is in place. Anyone with information is asked to call police via 101 quoting reference CAD 5989/22Sep."

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