Bid to get lifesaving bleed kit installed where teenager Gordon Gault was stabbed in Newcastle
by Sophie Doughty · ChronicleLiveTeen machete victim Gordon Gault could have survived if vital lifesaving equipment had been available to those trying to save him.
That's the view of the 14-year-old's heartbroken mum, Dionne Barrett, who is now raising money to get a specialist outdoor 'bleed kit' installed close to where he was stabbed.
Gordon died in hospital six days after he was struck in the arm with a machete during a violent clash close to Elswick Park in Newcastle’s West End. Newcastle Crown Court heard the teen was struck in the arm with the huge, heavy blade, wielded by Carlos Neto and supplied by Lawson Natty, in November 2022.
Passers-by desperately tried to help the teen when he collapsed in the street after being taken away from the scene of the fight. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle where he spent six days in intensive care before passing away in Dionne’s arms.
Now, determined to help spare other families the same agony she has endured, Dionne is campaigning to make bleed control kits available around Newcastle. The kits give people on the scene of a stabbing or incident where someone is bleeding heavily the equipment they need to help before emergency services arrive. The Daniel Baird Foundation, an organisation set-up in memory of 22-year-old Daniel who was fatally stabbed in Birmingham in 2017, has already sent Dionne one bleed kit. The kits are often kept inside pubs or other venues in city an town centres.
But Dionne wants to raise the £500 she needs to purchase a special outdoor bleed kit to be positioned close to Elswick Park.
And the 38-year-old believes it is essential to locate equipment in the areas where young people could be hurt, and may not be able to ask for help.
She said: "There's a chance Gordon could have been saved if there had been something there. If there had of been one of these kits around I believe his life would have been saved. The ones that go outside are around £500, but they are there 24 hours a day. When things like this happen some people don't want to run into somewhere for help."
Six teenagers stood trial for Gordon’s murder, but all were cleared of the charge in January, with Neto and Natty being convicted of manslaughter. Neto, 18, of Salford, Greater Manchester, was jailed for nine years and two months and Natty, of Newbiggin Hall, for two years and eight months. But earlier this year Dionne was given the devastating news that Natty was set to be freed early under a Government scheme designed to ease prison over-crowding.
Now as the two-year anniversary of her son's death approaches, Dionne is determined to see something positive come out of the tragedy. She plans to find somewhere to house the bleed kit she already has close to Elswick Park, while raising money for an outdoor one.
"I went down to London a few months ago and they have got them everywhere," she said. "These should be everywhere.
"They can save lives, it's not just for stabbings, it's for car crashes or anything where someone is bleeding."
Dionne has also been helping support Crawford House, which provides accommodation to parents of seriously ill children that are being treated at the RVI. Dionne stayed at one of the flats while Gordon was in intensive care, and last week she delivered donations of fresh pyjamas and toiletries to help families using the service.
"When your child gets rushed into hospital parents leave with just the clothes you have on," she said. "I was lucky I had family to pick me stuff up, in some cases families come from far away or have no one to help. We are unable to sleep in the hospital room when a child is on life support with all the machines so they put you up in these flats, not that we want to sleep or leave their bed side, but the nurses make you leave the room for at least 2 hours a day."
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