Thousands of well-wishers donate over £35,000 for hero knifed in train attack - smashing £500 target
Thousands of well-wishers have raised over £30,000 for a hero football fan who suffered horrific knife injuries in the knife attack on a train in Cambridgeshire.
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Stephen Crean was knifed in the back, head and hand in the attack on a busy LNER train heading towards London on Saturday evening.
He was slashed repeatedly while standing his ground when faced with the knife attacker - to buy time so that other passengers could reach the safety of the buffet car.
Mr Crean said the man asked him: "Do you want to die? Do you want to die?" Before he was stabbed.
He told Metro that the sum raised for him has left him shocked.
“I don’t expect anything in life but this is such a kind gesture, I can’t quite believe it.
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“I can’t open up any messages or look at the charity page myself but friends have shown me it and I’m in shock at the fact people have kindly donated so much.”
After the attack he said: “He's gone for me and there was a tussle in the arms with him and that's where my hand, the fingers are really bad, four cuts through them, sliced. And then he raised it and must have caught me when I was ducking and diving and must have caught me on the head."
He said it was ‘lovely’ to be described as a hero but that the real heroes were people who saved the lives of victims.
Yesterday, a train crew member who was seriously injured while trying to protect passengers was identified as Samir Zitouni, known as Sam.
The 48-year-old customer experience host was working onboard the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) train from Doncaster to London.
He “did not hesitate as he stepped forward to protect those around him”, his employer said, and he remains in hospital in a stable condition but critically unwell.
LNER said Mr Zitouni, who has worked for the firm for more than 20 years, has been credited with helping to save multiple lives after passengers came under threat.
Anthony Williams, 32, was remanded into custody at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with 10 counts of attempted murder over the train incident.
He is next due to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on December 1.