EXCLUSIVE: Bleed control kit unveiled in memory of murdered Bristol teenager
Friends and family of Darrian Williams gathered on Friday to mark one year since his murder
The family of Bristol teenager Darrian Williams, who was murdered in the city one year ago aged 16, are urging young people not to carry weapons.
Dozens gathered by Rawnsley Park in Easton on Friday night exactly one year since Darrian was fatally injured in the park, to unveil a bleed control cabinet installed in his memory.
That night Darrian was hanging out with friends when two other teenagers approached on bikes, asked if he was part of a gang they were in dispute with and then stabbed him in the back as he tried to get away.
Darrian managed to run to Easton Way for help and got in a van which drove him to Old Market, where he then collapsed.
The two boys responsible, who we cannot name for legal reasons, are both now serving life sentences for his murder.
What happened on Friday night?
Perhaps as many as 100 of Darrian's friends and family first gathered in Rosemary Lane Park in Easton from 4:30pm, where they released dozens of blue balloons into the sky in his memory.
From there much of the group then travelled to Rawnsley Park where Darrien was stabbed, to formally unveil a bleed control cabinet on Beaumont Street, mere metres from where Darrian was attacked. The group then retraced Darrian's final steps by walking from Rawnsley Park to Old Market.
Several of Darrien's closest family members spoke exclusively to Greatest Hits Radio after the bleed control cabinet was unveiled.
His older sister Shanine Wright described how the build up to Friday had felt like "being strangled".
She said: "I just feel a bit lost, a bit like what do we do?
"One year to society, that feels like a long time, but to us it feels like the day (it happened) all again. It's been hard."
Cousin Javeon described Darrian as "a really beautiful soul", while his older brother Racaine praised the installation of the bleed control cabinet.
He said: "To have a bleed kit in every area would help for everybody.
"It's the fact that it's there, people know it's there, people can feel safer."
"The government needs to focus on prevention"
The bleed control cabinet on Beaumont Street, which features a picture of Darrian, has been supplied by the Daniel Baird Foundation, with dozens of others already installed in other locations across Bristol and Bath.
Ten identical cabinets are up across Bristol having been funded by our charity Cash for Kids, the closest of which to Rawnsley Park is on Stapleton Road outside Lebeq Tavern, just 210 yards away.
Shanine said: "As a community unfortunately this is what we have to get to now, we have to put these kits out to try and save the kids' lives because I feel like this is the last resort.
"It shouldn't be like that, but I'm grateful for the community and grateful that so many people care to donate to these kits and I think that's the most important thing is, it's down to us now as a community to keep our children safe...
"They (the kits) have saved lives and they will continue to save lives."
"Having something like this here is invaluable," Javeon said.
"Knowing that this is here now, it's going to be a massive, massive help. (Let's have) more of these I say."
Sharing a message for young people who choose to carry weapons, Racaine said: "If that's the way you want to be, remember it could be your friend who gets stabbed and could be the one who passes away.
"How would you feel?
"Why would you want to do that to other people?"
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