The Heroes Who Confronted the Southport Child Killer

Leanne Lucas lies in agony in a Southport hospital, unaware of how many children were saved thanks to her efforts. Doctors are also attending to her friend Heidi Barlow, who has multiple open wounds but is out of danger. Heidi is aware of the lives she managed to save, just like Jonathan Hayes, who was stabbed in the leg while intervening between a killer and the children he was trying to murder. Former rugby player Joel Verite, who confronted and subdued the criminal, is also aware of the lives he saved. According to his friends, he remains traumatized by what he witnessed.

These four individuals are the heroes of the Southport stabbing, a savage attack on defenseless children that took place on Monday morning in the small British town. The attacker, a 17-year-old Rwandan youth and karate enthusiast, is in custody, though it remains unclear what led him to kill three children and leave seven others—five of them minors—between life and death.

The "ferocious crime," as described by English police, began around eleven in the morning at a community building called 'Hart Space.' Leanne Lucas and Heidi Barlow had organized a perfect plan. For days, they had been advertising on social media an event to raise funds for Alder Hey Children's Charity, an association that helps sick children hospitalized locally. Their course promised an exciting morning for young people aged six to eleven. They were going to learn dance choreographies from Taylor Swift's songs and perhaps do some yoga. Then they planned to teach how to make friendship bracelets, those bracelets that Taylor Swift fans prepare for months at home to exchange with other fans of the American singer. These bracelets symbolize eternal friendship, united by music and Taylor Swift's charisma. It was going to be two hours of childhood dreams.

The heatwave led Leanna and Heidi to leave the yoga studio door open where 25 children were already gathered preparing to sing and dance. The attacker entered directly into the space and began stabbing the children. According to witnesses, he hid his face with a mask and the hood of his black sweatshirt. That was the image of terror.

Heidi managed to run and push some children into the bathroom, where she locked them so that the hooded man could not stab them. During this heroic act, she sustained several stab wounds. But Leanna bore the brunt as she confronted the attacker. This yoga teacher, owner of the studio where the event was taking place and named 'Illuminate with Leanna,' received several stab wounds on her body. According to initial reports, her sacrifice allowed several children time to escape from the room and run outside. Her injuries are critical, and doctors do not know if she will survive the next few hours.

"Forget about me. There's a guy stabbing girls"

The screams of the children and the two teachers had already alarmed neighbors. One of the first people to arrive on the street where children were running was Jonathan Hayes, 63 years old. This man runs a repair shop located in the same building where the massacre was taking place. "He heard the screams and ran to see what was happening," narrated his wife Helen Hayes yesterday.

Jonathan encountered a horrific scene. Blood-covered children were running away from the dance studio. Some gravely injured collapsed after a few meters and lay on the asphalt. Then appeared the hooded man trying to stab one of the children he was chasing. The businessman ran and managed to interpose himself between the killer and his victim. He received a stab wound in his leg. Although he tried to disarm the attacker, his injury overcame him, and he fell to the ground.

Joel Verite had already arrived on the blood-covered street filled with bodies. This 25-year-old window cleaner was driving down the street when he noticed something strange happening. Joel—a former rugby player and personal trainer—encountered an injured woman and tried to help her. "Forget about me; there's a guy stabbing girls," she shouted at him—perhaps it was Heidi Barlow herself. According to confused witness accounts, Verite confronted the young man with a hood and mask. Apparently, the attacker retreated in fear of Verite's imposing figure just as a police officer arrived. While Joel restrained him, an officer fired a taser at the attacker. When he fell to the ground, Joel lunged at him and took away his knife. Verite emerged unscathed but is reportedly traumatized by what he saw according to friends. The young man is a father of one child and expecting his second.

The injured were taken to nearby hospitals. The deaths of two girls were reported throughout Monday. On Tuesday morning, doctors announced another minor had died. Leanna remained in intensive care. Throughout the day, friendship bracelets from different parts of England began arriving at the hospital—bracelets sent by other Taylor Swift fans for the injured girls—bracelets that they couldn't finish due to their assailant.