I came face-to-face with Southport knifeman after hearing kids screaming – we grappled on the floor before he stabbed me

A HERO has told how he came face-to-face with the Southport knifeman after hearing kids screaming.

John Hayes was stabbed in the leg during the knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday which left three girls dead.

The 63-year-old described how he ran to help when he realised people were injured.

The businessman, who was discharged from hospital on Thursday, said: “I heard lots of children running out the buildings, screaming, shouting.

“And that itself isn’t unusual because kids are very excitable normally when they come out of these classes, so that alone didn’t surprise me or strike me as unusual.

“But that didn’t then die down, which it normally does, and some of my colleagues got up to look out the window.

“And it was only at that stage when one of them witnessed a young girl on the floor, I assume, by the front door of entrance to our building.

“And said words to the effect, ‘There’s a girl outside bleeding out’.

“And as soon as I heard that I ran, I basically ran the full length of our office to go find out if I could help and what was happening to her and I never got as far as her because she was outside.

“So still on the first floor, when I opened our office door, I was confronted by another girl on the floor who looked like she had multiple stab wounds and was heavily blood-soaked.

“There was this guy in front of me with a knife, who then came towards me in a pretty menacing way. And I thought he’s going to kill me too.”

The father-of-three and grandfather then squared up to the attacker and attempted to disarm him.

He told MailOnline: “He then came at me with the knife, and I tried to put my hands up.

“He took a swipe towards my head and he just caught me very slightly on my right arm and I went backwards.

“I tried to grab the knife from him, but he stuck it in my thigh. I didn’t even realise he’d stabbed me at first.

“It was only when I tried to kick him with my right leg that I fell over because my left leg had been quite badly injured.”

John said he was taken on a stretcher to a road which had become a “makeshift holding area” and was in “quite a lot of pain”.

He added: “I’m glad that personally I didn’t have to witness all the anguish, those parents arriving on to that scene, it must have been horrific for them.

“I don’t know how they’ll come to terms with that, particularly the three parents have lost children, but others have had a lucky escape including me.”

Asked if he felt he was a hero, John replied: “I’m not going sit here and tell you that I was brave about the whole thing and confronting a knifeman, that’s not the story at all.

There was this guy in front of me with a knife. I thought he’s going to kill me too.

John Hayes

“And as I’ve said to everybody that’s asked, I don’t want this to be about me.

“I want this to be about the families of those three little girls.

“I’m really, really saddened to hear what’s happened and it’s going to take me a while to come to terms with that, it really is.”

Asked how he was doing with trying to come to terms with it, he said: “Not great. Last night I had a few flashbacks which weren’t pleasant.

“I’m still in quite a lot of pain, but I can get round, I’m hobbling around learning how to lose use crutches. Helen (his wife) has been hugely supportive.”

He said the parents of Leanne Lucas, the yoga class instructor injured while protecting children at the holiday club, had visited him in hospital and he believed “she’s going to be OK”.

He said: “I suspect that what she (Leanne) was doing was shielding children, so if you want to talk about real heroes then that’s her definitely.

“But I believe she’s going to be OK. So yes, I hope everybody makes a recovery.”