Woman, stabbed in Viking event, fights for her life

A COUPLE dressed as Vikings were practising for a battle re-enactment when the woman was nearly killed by a sword blow from her partner.

She was sliced in the neck and had to have a blood transfusion at the scene as an air ambulance team battled to save her life.

The man who struck her is thought to have been going through his moves outside his caravan in the grounds of a pub.

A neighbour said the couple were dressed as Vikings. She added: “The guy is a part-time Viking and was practising. She was caught with a sword on her neck. She had a blood transfusion on the spot and was then taken to London.

“We wondered why a helicopter had landed. Police and ambulances also arrived.”

The unnamed woman was taken to

King’s College Hospital in south London. Her condition was unknown last night.

The incident took place on a field behind the 17th century Woolpack Inn in Benover, Kent, where visitors can pitch for as little as £12 (R251) a day.

Another woman who asked to remain anonymous and also lives near the pub said: “The man who lives in the caravan has a great big beard like a Viking.

“We don’t know how the woman is getting on. It’s a wonder how she didn’t die there and then. Apparently they were doing a Viking re-enactment where they go slashing swords about and it’s gone terribly wrong.

“It seems a bit of a funny thing to do with actual weapons but I suppose they’re trying to get as close to the real thing as possible.”

A spokesman from South East Coast Ambulance Service said: “We were called to reports of a woman with serious injuries in a field (in Benover). Ambulance crews were joined at the scene by the air ambulance service.

The patient was taken to King’s College Hospital by road in a life-threatening condition.

There are scores of historical re-enactment groups in Britain, covering every period of history from the ancient Greeks to the World War II.

One Viking society boasts more than 1500 members.