SPOTY winner Mark Prince recalls moment son, 15, was fatally stabbed

Get the latest Daily Record breaking news on WhatsApp

Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info

Join us on WhatsApp

Dr Mark Prince has spoken about the tragic moment he discovered his son had been fatally stabbed.

His world fell apart when his son, Kiyan, who had a promising future as a footballer at Championship side QPE , was attacked as he broke up a fight outside his North London school in 2006.

Former boxer Mark - a WBO and IBF Intercontinental champion - was overcome by grief and utter helplessness.

Remarkable, he found a way to channel his experiences into supporting suffering parents and families who have undergone the same heartbreak.

He also works tirelessly to prevent it happening to other parents and children.

Marks' efforts were recognised at Tuesday night's BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards. He said in a poignant speech: "It happened on a beautiful sunny day. I was working with my friend in his new business, gold-plating phones. My daughter rang and said, ‘Dad, Kiyan’s been stabbed’

“She was breaking down. I tried to be calm, but it was growing more difficult. Before I jumped in the car, I said out loud, ‘God, save my son. Don’t let him die’. Then silently in my mind I said, ‘But if he does die, help me to accept it’.

“I didn’t know where it came from. Probably my journey with God because in 2000 my boxing career had ended, my marriage was on the rocks, my mum had just survived an operation and my life was really a testing time. I’d learned that God was teaching me to accept things that were happening.

“And I knew I couldn’t accept this without his help. We kept hearing news about where to go. The helicopters were coming to pick him up. It was a crazy journey.”

As he arrived at hospital, his composure fell apart, he said: "I was listening to the doctor telling me he’d opened my son’s chest, massaged his heart and just couldn’t bring him back to life, and he was gone. The pain of that…. I can’t explain. I was punching walls with all my might and there was blood on the floor. They thought I’d broken my hand.

“All that time, I’m listening to the crying from Kiyan’s mum and my family. I’d never heard these sounds coming from my own body before. And that was just the beginning. I was asked to identify my son and spend some time with him. That’s another section of pain, watching him looking alive and peaceful, then going blue. You’re left with all these memories. They are deadly and painful. I’d get panic attacks when

"I’d see his picture. I’d also pass out, out of the blue. I’d come around and my mate would say, ‘Prince, if I wasn’t here, you would’ve fallen face down on the floor’.

Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!

Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.

You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.

All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!

If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.

We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like.

To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.

If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

“You’re not eating, not drinking, not sleeping. Then you’re having these dreams of even killing the guy that did your son, and killing anyone in his family so they could feel what you’re feeling. And you’re trying to find a way of getting out some painful stuff that’s going on inside you. There’s no escape.”

Eventually, Mark received the support he needed to manage his pain, and launched the Kiyan Prince Foundation through which he would pay it forward. Based at the Tottenham Community Sports Centre in Haringey, North London, the KPF has positively impacted over 100,000 young people in England and Wales.

Around 80% of those on its Inspiring Future Changes programme were motivated to make positive changes in their lives or to help others in theirs.

Mark has also supported a string of parents including the Harry Pitman's mum and dad. Harry, 16, was fatally stabbed as he waited to watch fireworks over the Thames last New Year’s Eve.

Mark says: “I was training kids inside the community centre. Somebody at reception said, ‘There’s a parent out here who wants to speak to you’.

“I came straight outside and spent that time with her – probably half an hour, 45 minutes. We hugged and cried. Then we [talked] about the journey she has ahead of her – and what’s useful at this stage of her grieving process.

“She was so grateful that she could have someone to talk to that felt what she felt. I’m useful with my pain. And that’s why I think I do the work that I do. I want to share with people because you’ve gone through so much pain. You don’t want to throw in the towel and to quit because you’re probably of more use than you were before.

“I met her husband about a week or so after. It’s probably one of the most powerful parts of the healing process, being able to share your experience. Sharing your pain, sharing your son because the world didn’t have your son before, but all of a sudden the world’s got access to your son and not every parent wants that.

“There’s nothing more rewarding than helping other people.” Mark educates and inspires young people to set big goals and create their best lives by developing positive character traits.

He also visits schools, universities and prisons to reinforce the value of life and the power of self-belief and to prevent young people being caught up in the negative behaviours that lead to gang culture and knife crime.

This year, a small section of Leeds United football fans heckled him as he spread his anti-knife crime message during a match there. He says: “There have been times I haven’t thought it was working. But something has always happened to show me different.

“On one occasion I went into a shop and a girl said to me, ‘You came into my school when I was a pupil. No one ever touched my heart and made me think differently the way you did’.

“And I remember walking in my house at the end of a difficult day and finding a letter with 50 postcards from children at a school I hadn’t even been to. The kids shared with me that they’re never going to carry a knife. Also that I’m their new role model.”

The signs are that kids continue to see possessing a knife as a necessity. Mark says: “Everyone’s getting a bit more nervous because it is like a style, a fashion. It’s a new culture now.”

He believes some of those carrying knives lack self-esteem, adding: “I teach that respect comes from somewhere else. It comes from caring, from working hard, from having goals and aspirations.”

On Tuesday night at the Sports Personality of the Year event, the former boxing champion got the Helen Rollason award, recognising outstanding achievement in the face of adversity.

The life coach and motivational speaker was in Jamaica when he was told he would be getting the award. Speaking from the island, he told the Mirror: “I was shocked, because in my world as a young kid, homeless from 15, coming from Tottenham – that’s not the place that you’ll find a Helen Rollason award winner.” His work had already earned him a doctorate and an OBE. The recognition comes from the hard yards Mark and his team have put in around the country over the past 18 years.

Asked about his own well-being, he takes a long pause. Mark is in Jamaica for a much-needed recharge of his batteries.

He says: “I’m so glad that I’ve got a support system in my wife who helps me to... take time out for me. I have to rest and recuperate, so that when I get back I can help the kids who are still contacting me while I’m here. They miss me. You find yourself feeling like they’re your kids. I really care about them.”

Discover more about the Kiyan Prince Foundation

You can donate to help the Kiyan Prince Foundation in their mission here

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.