A father has spoken out in support of Bristol’s growing campaign to install bleed kits across the city after his son was treated using one following a freak accident in South Bristol. Julian Hartrey said his son Ralphie may well have lost his leg or even his life after he sliced his leg open on a cracked kerb after stumbling over on the pavement near his home in Knowle West.
The bizarre accident left Ralphie, 11, with a cut right across his leg just below his knee, and severed an artery, causing him to bleed profusely and dangerously. His frantic friends tried to flag down passing motorists on Filwood Broadway but no one would stop for them, so they ran into shops and other venues nearby in a desperate search for help.
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They came to the Aftermath BJJ Knowle ju-jitsu club run by Nick Jordan and he had recently installed a bleed kit as part of Leanne Reynolds’ city-wide campaign to get the kits installed at venues around the city.
“We had a class going on, but we actually heard the shouts for help first and you know when you can hear the desperation in someone’s voice - it was like that, we knew something serious had happened,” said Nick.
One member of staff at the club went out to see what was happening and rushed back to explain, so Nick grabbed the bleed kit and went out.
“The lad had taken his t-shirt off and was holding against his leg but in less than a minute, the blood had soaked through that and was still gushing out. I have never seen a cut like it. You could see the bone, and the blood was gushing out of him,” he added.
When the bleed kit was installed at the club, Nick and the other staff had training in how to use it, and suddenly that was very much needed. “It was really easy to use, it was all pretty straightforward, but the thing is, it had everything we needed in that moment,” explained Nick.
“It had a tourniquet which was the perfect size so I tourniqueted up his leg to try to stop the bleeding and it had all the perfect bandages to stem the flow and stop the bleeding. It even had one of those foil blankets which was also very much needed. He’d lost a lot of blood and I’ve never seen someone go so white so quickly, it was scary. The foil blanket helped keep him warm and we waited for the paramedics to come,” he added.
Paramedics attended and after treating Ralphie at the scene, he was taken to hospital, but not before one of the paramedics came back to thank Nick and his team for their work.
Ralphie’s dad Julian said doctors told them if the bleeding hadn’t been stopped he may have lost his leg, or even bled out and died.
“Ralphie had 30 stitches, it was a massive cut, but he was lucky enough that there was a bleed kit near him when he did it,” said Julian. “They told us he could easily have lost his leg, or even his life had he not been treated properly so quickly.
“I don’t know what he would’ve done or what would’ve happened to him if that hadn’t been there. The kerb was sharp and it just shredded his shin right through, it was horrendous,” he added.
Julian runs a printing and embroidery shop in South Bristol so jumped at the chance to join the campaign to get more bleed kits - and more training - across the area. He printed the T-shirts that are currently promoting the campaign being led by Park Knowle FC, where Max Dixon, one of the two teenagers stabbed to death in Knowle West in January, played.
That campaign has also seen Max’s family back a sponsored walk last weekend from Weston to Bristol, which Trevor Silk, the partner of Max’s mum Leanne, took part in. This Saturday, members of Park Knowle FC will take part in a bag pack event at Asda in Whitchurch to raise awareness and funds too.
“I can’t stress enough how amazing this kit was,” said Nick. “It had everything I could’ve needed at the time. These things should be in every pharmacy, in every corner shop. We’re getting another one installed at the club and we’re organising a 24-hour ‘Grapplethon’ of non-stop ju-jitsu to raise money for it,” he added.
“The point about these bleed kits, and what happened to Ralphie shows, is that it’s not just about kids getting stabbed. These kits are for anything where there’s a lot of blood. Ralphie just tripped over, but it could be a car crash, some other kind of accident, anything,” he added.
Together For Change Aims
Set up a task force - We will develop a community-driven task force to meet and discuss the issue, how best to tackle it and how we can make a real difference with those in power.
Getting knives off the street - We will work with the campaigners to raise awareness of initiatives designed to get knives off the streets.
Social media - We will look at the Online Safety Bill and see if it goes far enough where it comes to harmful knife-related content on social media and how easy it is for children to see.
Raise awareness - We will work together to raise the awareness of how knife crime is linked to poverty, education, employment, social exclusion and the collapse in youth services
Lobby the government -We will cover the issue in the context of the General Election, using our findings from the taskforce and our reporting to lobby for change
Hold power to account - We will scrutinise and hold Avon and Somerset Police and Bristol City Council to account on their plans and models to make Bristol safer
