A man who confronted an attacker who stabbed a number of people on a train in England over the weekend has been left with severe knife wounds and believes all his fingers will need plastic surgery.
Stephen Crean told LBC radio on Monday morning he ended up face-to-face with the man, who has since been arrested, as he had nowhere to hide.
British prosecutors on Monday charged 32-year-old Anthony Williams with 10 counts of attempted murder following a mass stabbing on a London-bound train that left multiple passengers and a train worker injured on Saturday.
Mr Crean, who was on his way back from a soccer match, said initially “there was a lot of shouting. And then a few people ran past, and then they said, ‘run, someone has a knife’. So then, I let a few people go and I get up, and then there’s this guy waving a great big blade, an oversized blade”.
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Mr Crean said the man was waving the blade at people “and so they moved down a bit further than I did with everyone else, and then people went into toilets. And the buffet cart, some people hid in there, but I couldn’t get in any of those. They’re all full, so eventually, I had a confrontation with him. It was just me against him”.
Mr Crean said he tried to hold the man back as the blade kept moving around in the attacker’s hand, leaving Mr Crean with a number of wounds on his body.
During the struggle the man said a number of times to Mr Crean, “Do you want to die?”
Mr Crean said he was eventually able to push the attacker off and got safely into a toilet. “By then I was bleeding lots ... I’ve got lots and lots of stitches all over my head. And my hand is severe with the knife wounds, but I think every finger, basically probably will need plastic surgery.”
Mr Crean said the attacker then continued on down the carriage towards the buffet car where people had moved to.
When asked by LBC host Nick Ferrari if he realised his actions would have allowed others time to escape, he said, “Yeah, that’s what the idea of it was. That’s the idea, that’s the way I am at heart. I’m going to do that, you know.”
Mr Crean was taken to hospital following the incident and discharged yesterday morning. Once the bandages come off his hand, doctors will be in a better position to assess treatment for his fingers, he said.
