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Knife thugs could strike again
19/12/2003
A TEENAGER who suffered a punctured lung when he was stabbed
fending off a gang of three as he walked to a local shop fears that
the thugs could strike again targeting women and elderly
people.
Saeed Ahmad was walking on Waterloo Road in Cheetham when he was
confronted by a trio of masked and hooded muggers who stepped out
of an alleyway and demanded he empty his pockets.
The 6ft-tall fitness fanatic refused to comply and was ready to
take on all three attackers when one of them produced a knife and
stabbed him under his left arm puncturing his lung and narrowly
missing his heart.
He said: "I'm 6ft tall and keep very fit. I was back on my mountain
bike the day after they let me out of hospital.
"If these people will attack a 6ft tall, fit guy like me, what
chance have older people and women got.
"They only had guts because they had a knife.
"This wasn't late at night, and it's normally a busy street but
there was nobody about at the time. This could happen to
anyone.
"At the time I was finding it very hard to breath. It affected my
whole chest and I'm still taking painkillers. If I hadn't been so
strong, I could have died."
Saeed was at first unaware that he had been seriously hurt and
believed he had been winded by a punch in the ribs. It was only
when he felt blood pouring from the wound that he realised he had
been stabbed.
He said: "One had a knife in his hand and one of them said, 'Give
me all your stuff.'
"There was one in front of me, one at my side and one behind. I
said, 'No.' and pushed one of them away, then the three jumped on
me and one of them hit me just near my ribs on the left side of my
chest. They didn't get anything from me, they ran off. As I started
to carry on walking I realised I was bleeding."
Saeed, a Btec computer student, called an ambulance and the police
on his mobile phone and was taken to North Manchester General
Hospital where he spent five nights after undergoing surgery to
drain blood from his collapsed lung.
The youngster, who works part-time in a computer store, was back on
his feet 24 hours after being discharged but has been told it could
be three weeks before he is fully recovered.
The attack has shocked his close-knit family and the wider Muslim
community who offered prayers for his recovery at Mosques on Friday
and relatives from all over the country were at his bedside within
hours of hearing of the assault.
Saeed is now worried that the culprits are still stalking the
streets and could pick a softer target next time.
"I'm on the way to a full recovery but in the back of my mind I'm
thinking, they could do this again."
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