A CONSULTANT at Colchester General Hospital’s emergency department has added his support to our LIVES NOT KNIVES campaign.

Kazim Mirza is the longest-serving consultant in Colchester’s A&E department, where Jay Whiston was taken after being stabbed.

He admits he still finds knife attacks frightening.

Mr Mirza said: “It is scary to think people are mad enough to use a knife.

“They have no fear at all. They don’t think of the outcome.

“A knife injury can ruin someone’s life. They can be left in a wheelchair, with a facial injury or it can even be fatal.

“There can be horrendous consequences. A mother may lose her son but the perpetrators don’t think about the hurt they have caused.

“When they injure or kill, it is not just the victim they have hurt - it is their family, their spouse, their children. There is a bigger picture.”

Mr Mirza has seen a dramatic increase in recent incidents of knife crime.

“We have had seven patients with serious stab wounds in the past six weeks," HE SAID.

“We normally only see two or three a month so this is a 50 per cent increase.”

Mr Mirza said kniVEs could easily cause life-threatening injuries.

“If you are stabbed in the middle of the chest, you can suffer a knife wound straight through the heart.

“A stabbing in the chest can lead to a collapsed lung or there can be blood in the chest cavity which can be fatal if it is not dealt with straight away.”