A dad who recently completed first aid training has spoken of how he helped save the life of a security guard who was stabbed at a shopping centre.
James Jackson, 49, was shopping with his wife and three children in Middleton Shopping Centre on the day a security guard working there was stabbed several times in an attack being treated as attempted murder.
And James, whose training from six months ago was still fresh in his mind, ran to help the man while emergency services raced to the scene.
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Along with two others - a security guard colleague and a hairdresser from a nearby barbers who also came to assist - he helped apply pressure to and stem the bleeding from the numerous wounds whilst paramedics arrived.
Supermarket worker James now says he would like to pursue a career in the ambulance service to help more people after being thanked for his efforts by both the victim and police.
James, from Higher Blackley, was out shopping with wife Vikki, daughters Olivia, 12, Ana, five, and son Teddy, four, on the day of the drama (Saturday, August 14).
He said he was paying for goods in Quality Save with his eldest daughter when his wife, who had taken his son and younger daughter to another store, rang and said 'you need to come quick, I think there's been a stabbing.'
After running up a set of stairs towards them, seeing big pools of blood on the floor along the way, James said he found the victim propped against a refrigeration unit inside a set of double doors.
He immediately sprang into action and cut away his shirt to examine his wounds before asking someone to fetch towels that could be used to apply pressure to them and stem the bleeding.
James' wife is a childminder and so that he was prepared for any home emergencies he undertook a course with the Manchester First Aid Training company last Christmas.
It included sections on general trauma, including stabbings, which he says gave him the confidence to put himself forward to help.
"For all I knew the guy with the knife could still have been around - but for some reason I didn't even think twice," James said.
"I just ran past my wife and kids and through the double doors to where he was.
"I found myself shouting at people to get me scissors and - in the absence of a big fist aid kit - some towels because the adrenalin was pumping.
"We just had to work with what we had."
"I felt really bad for him," he added.
"He was looking at me and asking how bad it was. We were trying to comfort him and were saying it was just a flesh wound.
"At one point he asked us to ring his dad and I knew that was because he thought he was going.
"I can still remember his phone password now it's so etched in my brain. I don't even know my wife's.
"And we managed to get his dad on the phone."
James estimates it took around 20 minutes for medics to reach them.
"By the time the paramedics arrived, we had been working on him for that long, I was covered in blood from fingertips up to my elbow" he said.
"Even then we had to keep the pressure on the wounds whilst they went round and packed them and dressed them.
"As they put him on the stretcher he said to us 'thank you, you saved my life'."
The 42-year-old victim was taken to hospital where he was found to have suffered five stab wounds, police said.
He has since been discharged.
"When you're in the middle of helping that is the focus," said James.
"But as we walked away and the other guy who helped put his hand out to shake hands we just burst into tears."
James said he also received a phone call from a police officer involved in the case to thank him for his running towards the danger and helping.
"People have said I am a hero and whatever, but I don't see it that way," he said.
"I did get a picture from my daughter calling me her superhero which properly set me off.
"And obviously people saying that, you can't help but have some pride and satisfaction.
"But I just see it as right place, right time.
"I'm just glad we were able to help and to stabilise him.
"But if I hadn't known the first aid I would have had as much confidence to run and help."
James, who works on the tills at the Sainsburys store near Heaton Park, now says he would like to explore the possibility of a career as an ambulance driver or medical technician.
"I think it has changed me in a way really and I just want to help people now," he said.
Joanne Moore, who founded Manchester First Aid Training 10 years ago and who trained James, said: "I received a call explaining the events from August 14 from a student I taught six months prior.
"James completed his course with us taking in knowledge on how to deal with trauma and major bleeds alongside CPR and choking.
"To hear that my students have the confidence to deal with life-threatening events is so very rewarding and fulfilling, it's the reason why I teach it.
"We encourage everyone to learn to first aid, you just never know when something might happen. "
In an update today (August 25), the victim had now been discharged from hospital, Greater Manchester Police said.
A 19-year-old man was yesterday arrested by officers in Derbyshire on suspicion of attempted murder, the force added, and he remains in custody for questioning
Police are still appealing for anyone who may have information to contact them.
Information can be passed to police online via their website or by calling 101, quoting incident 1659 of 14/08/2021.
Details can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
