The mother of Jack Woodley has taken the difficult step of publicly releasing a photo of him in hospital after he was stabbed in Houghton in 2021.
This heartbreaking photo shows him fighting for his life. Jack, 18 did not survive and 10 youths, aged 15-18, were later convicted of his murder.
Now, having spent another Christmas without her son and going through the pain of this experience, his mother Zoe has spoke out at the devastating impact her son’s loss has had on her life:
“When I held his hand I had to wear three sets of gloves as he was classed as evidence. I thought he’s not evidence, he’s my son. Even the hospital staff were heartbroken by it.
“People say that time will heal but it doesn’t. I still sit by his grave every night. It destroys your life.
“I never look forward to Christmas but you have no choice with kids. Christmas is family time. How do you go about family time when one of your kids is missing? It’s absolutely heartbreaking.”
“Every single day you hear of people dying from fighting and it’s stabbing. It’s just absolutely soul-destroying. I always say to my husband ‘What the hell have we brought kids into?’
“You don’t know who people are anymore. You don’t know if you’re safe. I panic all the time.
“I just want the law to get tougher on knife crime and for people to think about the families who have lost their children and their loved ones. How would they feel if it was their loved ones?
“Don’t do it unless you want to be responsible for a family’s pain like this.
“I never ever plan for the future now. I take it day by day and try to be as comfortable and happy as I can be. You can literally be gone tomorrow.”
“If you take someone’s life with a knife you shouldn’t be walking the streets. How many more lives do we have to watch fade away?”