Five saved by Ava’s legacy
Stab girl’s mum campaign for bleed packs pays off
FIVE lives have been saved thanks to bleed-control packs funded in memory of 12-year-old Ava White, who was stabbed to death in a row.
Following the tragedy in Liverpool in 2021, mum Leeann, 40, set up the Ava White Foundation, raising funds to install 37 kits in the city.
Nik Misra, a trauma surgeon at Aintree Hospital, said: “We have five documented cases where people employed the bleeding control techniques, and bandages and dressings inside to help people who were bleeding and that person has survived.”
Calling on them to be installed nationwide, he added: “[People] can see a cabinet. They can see what to do, ring 999, get instructions. It will make a difference.” Ava was stabbed in the neck by a 14-year-old boy following a row at a Christmas lights switch-on in the city centre.
Her mum and sister Mia,
19, have raised over £2,000 for the Foundation. They estimate they need a further £3,000 to hit their target of 50 bleed packs.
They are being set up in pubs, clubs and churches and can be used before emergency crews arrive. Speaking at a training session, Leeann said: “It’s really bittersweet. It’s good that we’re highlighting it and getting it out there but then it’s come at the cost of Ava losing her life. If the kits were available at that time, it could have saved Ava.”
Ava’s family has started a petition calling for the packs to be a legal requirement across the UK.
Ava’s murderer, who cannot be named due to his age, was sentenced to at least 13 years last June.
These kits could have saved the life of my daughter
LEEANN WHITE
MUM OF MURDERED AVA