Edinburgh mother whose son died in alleged stabbing campaigns for 'bleed kits' to save other lives
A mother whose son died in an alleged stabbing in Leith two months ago is raising money to provide simple "bleed kits" - designed to deal with any severe bleeding - and make them as widely available as possible.
Lisa Petrie says things could have been very different for her son John Mcnab, 22, if such a kit had been accessible after the alleged attack in Great Junction Street in the early hours of September 2.
Within just two weeks of launching her campaign, Lisa has already raised more than £3,000 to buy bleed kits. And on Monday she presented the first one to Leith Athletic FC in memory of John. He played for the club from around the age of seven until his mid-teens.
Lisa said: "We found out there are loads of these kits in England, but only six in the whole of Scotland. I want to see them everywhere - schools, community centres, pubs, shops.
"I don't want another family to go through what I'm going through. These kits can save lives and we want them more accessible in and around Edinburgh."
The first kit will be kept in the Leith Athletic FC changing rooms at Leith Links and the next ones are planned for several other locations in the north of Edinburgh where John used to go.
The kits include a tourniquet, a clot bandage, bandages for sealing wounds, gloves, a resuscitation shield, gauze, scissors, adhesive bandages and foil blankets. They can be used to combat any significant blood loss.
Lisa said: “I’ve been trained in how to use these kits and I can deliver the information to others and show them how to use what’s inside. And when we have delivered more kits around the city I want to produce a map of where they are so people know where to go when they need them."
Lisa has been helped in her fundraising by Pauline Bowie of Low Income Families Together (LIFT) based in Muirhouse. She plans to carry on raising money and has contacted the council about providing locked cabinet for the kits, similar to the ones for defibrillators so they could be available all hours.
She also said if kits are used, she will replenish them. “But my main concern right now is getting them in schools, football clubs, pubs, clubs."
Some of John's friends donated money and a local artist was commissioned to paint a mural of him on the wall of Leith Athletic's changing rooms. "It's just somewhere his friends can go and remember him," said Lisa.
And in her fundraising she is using a picture of John with the words "Lives Influenced for Tomorrow - Not in Vain". She said: "If all this means that other lives can be saved, John will not have died in vain."
A 16-year-old boy appeared in court on September 4 charged with murder.
* Donations to the John Mcnab "Not in Vain" campaign can be sent to Muirhouse Millennium Centre, 7 Muirhouse Medway, Edinburgh EH4 4RW. Account details: Account no. 00205715 Sort code 80-11-05 Ref JMBK.