Theatre nurse recalls horror moment she realised who stabbing victim really was
A nurse will never forget the harrowing screams of a family as they were told their son was dead.
Debbie Scott was working a late shift as a theatre nurse at Whiston Hospital when she got an alert for a trauma team to go to the resuscitation unit. It was here that Debbie and her colleagues were told there had been a stabbing and CPR was already ongoing. The victim, who arrived two minutes later, was 29-year-old Adam Ellison who had been stabbed in the neck. Debbie said it was only after his family were brought into the room that she realised she knew them from school.
Debbie, 54, said: "We set up the instruments and got ready. The team were amazing. Adam arrived through the door, CPR was being performed and he came into the trauma room. You could see Adam's colour and things like that - it wasn't good. The surgeon, the team that worked on that night, were amazing. The surgeon clamped the vessels off straight away. Then the A & E consultant came in and stated the family had just arrived and they wanted to come through."
It was only as the family were brought through that Debbie realised she knew the family, having gone to primary school with Adam's sisters Joanne and Nicola. Debbie said: "It hits home when you realise you know the family. I didn't really know Adam because Joyce had Adam later in life, so I didn't recognise Adam, it was the girls I recognised. The feeling I got through my body about recognising these girls and knowing the family from old. They're such a lovely family - like our own family there was two girls, a boy, mum and dad, and we lived near one another. We went to school with them."
Adam Ellison as a youngster (Family handout)Adam was walking home from the pub with friends in the early hours of November 4, 2017, when they encountered a gang in a pedestrian area in Market Place, Prescot. An altercation occurred after a motorbike nearly crashed into them.
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One of two men on a green and white Kawasaki KX 85 Big Wheel off-road bike stabbed Adam in the neck with an unknown weapon. The killers rode away in the direction of a Tesco store on Sewell Street as friends and passers-by rushed to Adam's aid. Despite the efforts of medical staff, he was pronounced dead in hospital shortly after 2am. Since his death, Adam's family have confirmed he had no involvement in crime or gang activity whatsoever, and it appears the tragedy followed a random encounter.
Six years on from the 29-year-old's murder and his family are still fighting for justice. Debbie, who helped to treat Adam that night, spoke to the media for the first time at Merseyside Police's HQ on St Anne Street this week. She told the Liverpool Echo: "I remember the AandE consultant stating to the family 'we've done all we can now, we need to call it.' And I just remember the screams that came from that family.
"I was stood in the corner with the surgeon and nobody knew that I knew the family because they'd only just walked in. But I remember those harrowing screams and I'll never forget them. The trauma room was full - it was like a warzone. I remember Nicola and Joanne, they started to punch Adam. The monitors were turned off. The girls started to punch Adam saying 'don't you dare die Adam, don't you dare die. You're stronger than this Adam. Come on Adam. Come on Adam. We need you.' And that will stay with me for the rest of my life."
Adam was 29 when he was killed (Merseyside Police /PA Wire)Despite numerous media appeals from Merseyside Police and Adam's family, a BBC documentary about the case and a reward for information, no one has yet been charged over the killing, although 12 people have been arrested. The charity Crimestoppers - which is independent of the police and guarantees anonymity - is offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information they exclusively receive that leads to a murder conviction.
Detective Inspector Dave Jones said: "I can't begin to comprehend what Adam's family have been through in the past six years. The special occasions and anniversaries that have gone by without him being there and with his family knowing that his killer still walks the street must be unbearable. We know over the years that people have come forward with intelligence that has assisted us with a number of lines of enquiry but we need people to come forward with evidence. We know that the answers lie within our communities and that people have chosen to stay quiet.
"To those people I would say please search your conscience. Tell us what you know and let us do the rest. Adam's family don't deserve to be left in limbo without ever getting any justice. If you don't want to speak to the police then please get in touch with Crimestoppers and give your information totally anonymously."
Anyone with information which could assist the investigation into Adam's murder can call police on 101.
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