‘THOSE SCARS REMIND ME OF WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED’
OVER a decade ago, Wes Cunliffe was running from the police, running from fellow drug dealers and ultimately, running from a lifestyle that was catching up with him.
The Newport youngster had found himself involved in the city’s drug market, running supplies between dealers, dealing substances himself and carrying a weapon to protect himself.
However, his involvement in the risky “business” came to a head when he was stabbed and left for dead in the middle of the street.
It was this incident, as well as the actions of two perceptive police officers, which led Wes to abandon the life of crime and turn his fortunes around.
A far cry from his adolescence as a tearaway rogue in the notorious Pill and Duffryn areas of the city, he went on to became one of the most dangerous evasive runners in Welsh semiprofessional rugby and a stalwart of the Jamaican Sevens team that played at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and competes in the world series.
Now, years later, Wes has decided to speak about his experience of being stabbed as part of a new campaign to raise awareness of knife crime.
He said he initially got into the drug trade to provide for his family, as his mother was struggling with alcohol and substance abuse.
“I was involved in drugs, I was involved in dealing, don’t get me wrong, the money I was getting was OK because I was able to buy food, I was buying my brothers clothes and taking them to school,” he said.
While he initially didn’t carry a knife, he decided to arm himself with a blade for protection after seeing others armed with weapons.
“You see these older males from different areas, carrying weapons, carrying guns, carrying knives, at that point, I was like, ‘OK, I need to now carry more weapons because I’m very vulnerable.’”
Recounting the day he was stabbed, Wes says he was completing a drug deal when he was followed and ambushed by three attackers.
“I got on the train coming back and I could just see three boys just staring at me, they put a mask on.
“That’s why I jumped off the next train and the three boys jumped off to follow me and I ran and they chased me.
“As I got cornered, I went to pull for my weapon and they already have weapons on them.
“So I just got my bag. I put it in front of me and I tried to defend myself.”
His memory is hazy from here, but he remembers coming around to whirring blue lights, the voice of a police officer and the feeling of blood.
“I was breathing heavy, I was very disorientated,” he said.
“The police officer said, ‘You’re all right, mate, you’re all right’, and I just looked and I felt a hot then a cold, then a tingling down my left arm.
“As I looked, clearly I had been stabbed. All my left arm was red and it was dripping, and a big pool of blood was on the floor.
“I was fading, I was wobbling, all I remember is the police officer radioing for assistance.
“I remember waking up a couple of days later then in the Cardiff hospital.”
Following the stabbing, Wes was hospitalised for five days. He received life-saving surgery.
“I just woke up, and my grandparents were there.
“I could just see the fear in my grandma’s eyes and in my grandfather could see it as well.
“And that upset me a little bit because the last people you want to hurt really are grandparents.
“My grandfather said to me, ‘Watching the doctors perform, to try and save your life, my grandson.’ The knock-on effect that has on a family made me really sad.
“I couldn’t make sense of none of it.”
Wes said he was told by doctors that the only reason he was alive was because a bystander had seen the altercation from their home and had called the emergency services.
It was both the physical and mental struggle that ensued, in the months after the attack, that led him to rethink his choices.
“There were some concerns that maybe some of the organs may have been damaged,” he said.
“I had to have crutches because I could hardly walk.
“I just sat home, just sat there, loathing, feeling sorry for myself.
“I felt guilt, shame, I was very
As I got cornered, I went to pull for my weapon and they already have weapons on them. So I just got my bag. I put it in front of me and I tried to defend myself.”
WES CUNLIFFE
embarrassed.
“I was also still scared because I was thinking those people who wanted to attack me might come again.
“I felt like I went into more of a darker place at that point.
“I’ve been injured so I can’t do any sports, nobody is going to employ me, all that turmoil was going on inside of me.”
Wes has now teamed up with South Wales Police as part of their new campaign focusing specifically on knife crime.
The campaign aims to educate young people, specifically males aged 11-16 and provide an early intervention and education on knife crime.
“I would say to these young people, ‘Do you know the impact this could have on the other people in your life? Not just you, but on the people surrounding you as well?’” said Wes.
“As I said, the effect it had on my grandparents, the effect it had on my brother, even on me to this day.
“I take off my top and those scars remind me of what I did, what could have happened.
“I would say, ‘Do you know where you’re going if you do this?’ Because the minute you pick up that knife and you put it in your pocket you either end up using it or one gets used on you. Either way it doesn’t end well.”