Health Secretary Wes Streeting has praised the emergency services heroes who rushed to the scene of the tragedy in Southport in July, saying “they represent the very best of the NHS”.
He added: “we owe them a debt of gratitude we can never repay”.
Mr Streeting MP, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, recalled his conversation with one of the paramedics at the scene during his speech at the 2024 Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.
It followed an horrendous knife attack which saw the tragic deaths of Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven; Bebe King, aged six, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine at the start of the school summer holidays.
The three girls were all killed as they attended a Taylor Swift themed dance and yoga class at the Hart Space in Southport on 29th July 2024. Several other girls and adults were severely injured and others left traumatised.
Paramedics rushed to the scene from Southport, Formby, Kirkby, Burscough, Bootle and Fazakerley.
Wes Streeting said: “Dave has worked in the ambulance service for nearly thirty years.
“But nothing could have prepared him for what he faced on Monday the 29th of July.
“He arrived on the scene in Southport to find children who had gone to dance to Taylor Swift, and the adults whose sole purpose was to bring joy to their young lives, lying bleeding, some tragically dying.
“The result of an unimaginable, senseless, mindless attack.
“I listened to Dave describe the split-second decisions he had to make, of who to treat, in what order, to give them the best chance of survival.
“And I heard how the whole NHS team came together: security rushing children through busy hospital corridors; technicians mobilising blood supplies; reception fielding calls from panic-stricken parents; and surgical teams fighting to save those young lives.
“Those heroes represent the very best of the NHS, and we owe them a debt of gratitude we can never repay.
“Conference, I can’t tell you the weight of responsibility I feel to make sure that the National Health Service that has been there for us since 1948, is there for the next century and beyond.
“And I tell you, I will not let you down.”
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