The mother of a murdered teenager is calling for life-saving bleed kits for stab victims to be placed in public spaces.
Yemi Hughes’s son Andre Aderemi, 19, was chased, beaten and hacked to death with a sword on a Croydon housing estate in August 2016. The killers were three of teacher Mrs Hughes’s former pupils.
Mrs Hughes, 41, is crowd-funding £5,000 to buy 50 kits that could be put in shops and transport hubs so first aid can be administered in the crucial minutes before police and paramedics arrive.
Each pack contains gauze to reduce severe haemorrhaging, a chest seal dressing which allows air to escape the pleural cavity, a tourniquet, gloves and scissors.
More than 300 bleed control kits were supplied to late-night venues in the City of London last year, but they are not widely available across the capital.
Mrs Hughes, of Croydon, said: “When my son was stabbed, I’d like to think one of these kits used by a member of the public could have kept him alive until paramedics came.
“Time is vital. One stab wound is all it takes for a youngster to bleed to death. Even though Andre was killed, I’d like to see these out there and readily available. It’s about preventing loss of life and I’m happy to get as many bleed kids as I can.
“I want Andre’s death not to be just another senseless murder, but a catalyst for change.”
In 2017 three men were jailed for a total of 60 years after being convicted at the Old Bailey of beating and stabbing Andre to death when a feud over a teenage girl “escalated out of control”.
To donate to Mrs Hughes’s appeal visit gofundme.com/YCSN-An-Angel-gained-in-August
