Bleed control kits "would save so many lives"
Leeann White's daughter Ava was stabbed and died at the age of 12
The mum of a Liverpool girl who was stabbed to death has vowed not to stop until bleed control kits are rolled out in all public places across the country.
Ava White died in November 2021 after being stabbed in the neck in Liverpool City Centre.
She was given first-aid before paramedics arrived at the scene, but she died a short time after being taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital.
The Ava White Foundation was set up to raise awareness and to raise money for bleed control kits to help treat serious bleeds before the emergency services are able to arrive.
Ava White's mum Leeann said:
"In September, I'm going to be going into schools sharing Ava's story and also doing training and showing the kids, if need be, how to stop a catastrophic bleed.
"It doesn't have to be for knife wounds, it can be any kind of catastrophic bleed and if they've got that knowledge, it's better for them.
"They (bleed control kits) need to be everywhere. We're waiting, on average, seven minutes for an ambulance but we all know the ambulance are not there in seven minutes and you bleed to death in five. We really need these kits out onto the streets, they would save so many lives.
A petition set up to get these kits in all public places has been signed just over 1,000 times so far.
8-year-old Blake White had his long hair cut short this week to raise more than £700 for the Ava White Foundation.
Leeann added:
"It was amazing watching him getting his hair cut after him growing it for eight years, it was amazing and for the cause he's doing it for, it's absolutely brilliant.
"It means the absolute world to me, it really does."
The Foundation is also campaigning for people to receive mandatory ten-year prison sentences for people who are found guilty of being in possession of a knife.
Leeann said:
"It should be (ten years). You can walk into anyone's house and pick a knife up and put it in your pocket. We need to stamp down on it."