Horror as teenager is knifed on his holiday
Bloodshed in bag shop row
A SCOTS teenager slashed and stabbed while on holiday in turkey in a row over a faulty handbag was last night said to be recovering. Callum Copson underwent ten hours of life- saving surgery after suffering a stomach wound so severe he had to push his intestines back inside his body with his hands.
the 19-year-old, of Kennoway, Fife, sobbed ‘I don’t want to die’ after his stomach was sliced open with a jagged fruit knife in the popular resort of Marmaris in front of his screaming girlfriend Erin Brown.
Mr Copson had jumped in to protect the 18year-old, who is from Edinburgh, after angry staff in a leather goods store started throwing belts, bags and shoes at her.
As he attempted to shield his girlfriend from the onslaught, witnesses said a 14-year-old boy snatched up a knife, dashed into the shop and plunged the blade into the Scot’s stomach before fleeing.
Mr Copson, who works for the frozen food giant Iceland, under-
‘The flash of a blade in his hand’
went two operations after the attack on Wednesday evening and was said by friends to be in a ‘stable’ condition.
his parents, Eric and Lorraine, have flown out to be at their son’s bedside.
A family member yesterday said he had come out of a medically induced coma, adding: ‘he’s going to be OK. We are just trying to deal with the situation.
‘he’s awake and talking. It’s a very difficult ti me f or the family.’
Miss Brown told police: ‘Callum and the shop owner carried on arguing and throwing bags at each other, when all of a sudden a young boy pushed past us and came face to face with Callum.
‘I didn’t see what happened but I saw his face and the flash of a blade in his hand before he ran off.
‘Suddenly there was blood everywhere. I realised Callum was seriously hurt. he was shocked and kept saying “I don’t want to die”. It was awful.’
A horrified British tourist who was in the shop with his young son said: ‘things seemed to spiral out of control very quickly. the next minute t he l ad collapsed in a pool of blood, clutching his stomach.
‘It was a gruesome scene and I covered my son’s eyes.’
the man, who did not want to be named, added: ‘Everyone was in shock. the injured lad was terrified. Fortunately, paramedics arrived in minutes.’
Mr Copson was rushed to the private Ahu hetman hospital for emergency surgery.
Consultant surgeon ozgur Basaran, said: ‘We operated as soon as Callum arrived. he’d suffered severe injuries and we had to go in through a main artery.
‘Due to the severity and extent of his injuries we had to operate twice. the first surgery took six hours and the second a further four hours.’
A 14-year-old was later taken to the police by his father, who works in the shop. the boy is understood to have mental health issues. he is said to have told his father and the police he could remember holding a bloodstained knife but nothing more.
he was remanded in custody by a judge, who has ordered a psychiatric evaluation.
Miss Brown had bought the bag two days earlier. She told police: ‘I asked for a refund and was told that wasn’t possible, but that I could pick a replacement bag.
‘When I picked one the owner said it was too expensive, so I asked for a refund again and that’s when the row started.’
Family friend Nadir Koyunbakan said: ‘they are guests in turkey and this should never have happened.’