A young girl left seriously injured following a stabbing last year in Brent has been reunited with the two police officers who saved her life; meeting The Duke of Cambridge in the process.
Seven-year-old Noura was invited to attend an event with The Duke of Cambridge to mark Emergency Services Day, which is held annually to acknowledge and thank members of the emergency services and the NHS for their work across the country. During the event, Noura was able to thank two of her heroes; North West Command response officers, PC Ryan Legge and PC Ahmet Mavitunali, who gave her life-saving emergency treatment when her father brutally attacked her at his Brent home in May 2020.
On 22 May 2020, the officers were responding to concerns about the welfare of a man and his young daughter. The man’s family in Austria had received a photograph electronically of the two showing significant injuries. Concerned, the family made contact with a family friend in London who then contacted police. They were unable to confirm the exact address, only a block of flats in Larch Road NW2. The two officers rushed to the location where they were presented with multiple flats to check. Acting quickly, they forced entry to several flats until they found the man and then six-year-old Noura.
They swiftly identified that Noura had suffered significant stab wounds to her neck and chest. Stemming the injuries, they alerted paramedics who were attending to the man. Had it not been for the officers’ quick thinking and administering of first aid in that moment, it’s very possible that Noura would not have survived. She was taken to hospital in a serious condition and remained there for the next three months slowly recovering from her injuries. Doctors initially feared that Noura would suffer serious neurological brain damage, but she has since made a full recovery and is doing really well.
Noura was unconscious when PC’s Legge and Mavitunali gave her the life-saving assistance; so she had never actually seen or interacted with them. Having been really keen to meet them in person and thank them for what they did for her, The Duke’s event offered the perfect opportunity.
Ahead of the event, the officers collected Noura from school, allowing her to meet them for the first time in a familiar environment and ensuring she arrived in style in a police car. The encounter unsurprisingly proved to be an emotional reunion.
