I knew I was running for my life’: How the Southport attack unfolded

'I knew I was running for my  life': How the Southport attack  unfoldedNot a valid attachment ID.
EPA pays floral tribute to Southport  stabbing victimsEPA
"The dance club was  filled with laughter and  excitement," is how  a 14-year-old girl described the atmosphere as a group of 26 children gathered for a Taylor Swift-themed class in  Southport.
Her summer holidays had begun and the sun was shining  in the  city as  her parents dropped  her off. When classes began, July  29, 2024, had all the  makings of a good  day.
The attack that  followed saw Axel Rudakubana  sentenced to a minimum of 52 years in prison. At his sentencing on Thursday, details of how the incident  unfolded from the  perspective of those involved were revealed to the public for the first  time. While the girls  were making friendship bracelets, a taxi driver  kicked a passenger  out of the classroom, who had just  left after  refusing to  pay.
The passenger,  a teenager, was not dressed for the weather: the hood of his  large green hoodie was pulled  tightly over his face and he was wearing a surgical mask.  He had an 8-inch kitchen knife in his  pocket.
Axel Rudakubana  initially didn't know how to get into the studio and was  captured on CCTV struggling with a locked door  – but then he  noticed another entrance and  went inside.
It was, as one child survivor put it,  "the beginning of my  nightmare." Warning: This article contains  disturbing and  disturbing details.
"It was not a  joke"
Evidence gathered during the dance  lesson confirms that Rudakubana moved  with calm and  determination.
He had been planning this moment for some time. He did not hesitate, grabbing and  holding the girl  closest to the door as soon as  she entered.
When Rudakubana attacked, he did not say a  word. It took a moment  for those in the room to  realize what was  happening.
"I thought the man who stabbed me was a  guard," said one of the  juvenile victims.
It must  have been a joke,  he thought, but  then he said, "I realized it  wasn't a  joke when I saw  the blood coming  out."
His memories of what happened next are  "fuzzy," but the  boy said  he remembers  thinking, "I don't want to die, I have to get out of  here."
Another victim said the image of Rudakubana in  his memory  was that of a monster  roaming the  studio. In court, she later  told her killer:  "What I remember most about you is your  eyes.
"You look possessed and you  don't look  human."
Rudakubana was outside when she went to open a window to let some air into the  hot dance  studio.
She didn't pay attention until the door  opened and he  appeared.
What happened next, she said, left her and the girls with  "scars we  can't erase, wounds we  can't heal."
The horror of what was unfolding only became fully clear when she was stabbed in the back.  Then she told the  girls, "I'm surviving for  you."
Heidi Liddle, who also  supervised the class,  sat on the floor helping the children make friendship  bracelets.
By the time she  realized what was happening, the  rapid attack had already  caused incalculable damage.Not a valid attachment ID.
Heidi sprang into action and began trying to  get the girls  out the  door.
One girl ran  to the  bathroom across the  board and  followed her. Heidi closed the door behind them and  hugged herself. "Don't make a  noise," she told the  girl.
And then the door  slammed shut. Rudakubana was still looking for  victims.
Outside, she heard the screams of  the children who had not managed to  escape. "Running for my  life"
Rudakubana set out to kill as many children as  possible: by the  end of the  15-minute rampage, two girls were dead and  another was  dying.
Eight other children and two adults  were stabbed. Some were fighting for their  lives.
Without the  girls' quick thinking and  courage, more people would surely have died.
One child recalls that the world  seemed to move in "slow motion" as Rudakubana  advanced on her, attacking her friends as  she crossed the room. Instinct took over.
He recalls how he  "physically pushed" his friends who were still able to run as they  descended the  stairs.
When confronted  by Rudakubana in court  as he read his statement,  he told  her: "I knew I was running for my  life.
"I knew from your eyes  that you  were trying to kill us all."
When he was sentenced, the judge concluded that if Rudakubana  could have done it, he would have killed every child present - and anyone who got in his  way.
One of the children who survived that day was stabbed 30 times. She was  rushed to hospital and doctors operated on her for six hours to try  to save the use of her arms, hands and  fingers.
"She saw two of the girls  die," the parents told  investigators.
In one  case, during her recovery, the child told her parents:  "I don't know who I am  anymore."
But six months  later, she is  struggling. Her mother said:  "We could never be more proud of what she has  done in the last six  months."
"It absolutely failed to destroy her spirit, her  incredible sense of humour, her fierceness and her pure  and beautiful  heart."
The Southport survivors are slowly rebuilding their  lives. The investigators who  handled the case said they were  amazed by  her courage and  resilience.
This was  amply demonstrated when one girl was asked what she  said when her classmates  asked her if she  wished she  hadn't been there that  day.
"In some ways, I wish I  hadn't been there," she  told them.
"But also, if I  hadn't been there, someone else would have been stabbed and could have died - so I'm glad I  was able to prevent someone else  from getting  hurt."

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