'My heart is breaking': Wolverhampton nursery hero speaks out after Southport knife attack
"My heart is breaking and my thoughts go out to the families of the children who have gone," says heroine Lisa Potts after three schoolgirls were killed by a knife man in Southport.
In an emotional interview with the Express & Star, the former nursery nurse who helped to save schoolchildren from a machete-wielding attacker in a Wolverhampton school 28 years ago, said the Merseyside incident had left her lost for words.
Bebe King, aged six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, aged nine, died after being attacked at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club by a 17-year-old youth.
Miss Potts, who has also worked as a health visitor in Shropshire, said: "It's absolutely heartbreaking to hear about this shocking incident. I'm lost for words that something like this can be happening.
"My heart is breaking and my thoughts go out to the families of the children who have gone, those left with life-changing injuries and to the whole Southport community.
"I can't express just how sad I am. In our situation all those years ago we were thankful that there were no deaths although there was much trauma to deal with in the aftermath.
"I was thinking only just recently that there had been no further tragedies like this involving a large children's group setting in the UK since what happened at St Luke's.
"It's deeply affected me today much more than I thought it would. I can't imagine what those poor parents and children witnessed at the scene. It's just so terrible."
Five children and two adults were also left in a critical condition after the attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class organised by dance coach Leanne Lucas. She is thought to be among those injured during the attack as she bravely tried to fend off the intruder.
A 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, remains in custody accused of murder and attempted murder following the incident in Southport.
Miss Potts, from Wolverhampton, was among three adults who were injured along with three infant class pupils at St Luke’s Primary, in Blakenhall, by paranoid schizophrenic Horrett Campbell on July 8, 1996.
When Campbell was sentenced the following March, the judge ordered that he be detained indefinitely in a secure mental hospital after experts advised that he was too psychotic to be held in prison.
Campbell was convicted of seven counts of attempted murder and when his trial ended at Stafford Crown Court in 1997, the judge said he would recommend a bravery award for Miss Potts because of the way, despite her injuries, she shielded the children from his blows.
Just, aged 21, at the time she suffered severe injuries to her head, back, and both arms.
The nurse, now 49, has since been the recipient of numerous awards for her bravery including the George Medal by awarded Elizabeth II in 1997 and she was made a Freewoman of the City of Wolverhampton two years ago. The Freedom of the City was presented to her for her bravery as well as in recognition of her work as nurse for the NHS and as a charity organiser since the 1996 incident.
The dedicated charity worker accepted the freedom medal watched on by several of her former St Luke's colleagues as well as former pupils who she later helped to support in recovery from their own injuries.