'My heart stopped when a thug stabbed my son, 15, with a massive zombie knife'

A 15-year-old boy was stabbed in the chest with a massive zombie knife in an unprovoked attack.

Sharday Gibbs claims doctors "don't know" how Oshay Woolley survived the ordeal, after which he looked "half-dead" and had to have all his clothes cut off in hospital as he was losing so much blood. The teenager had surgery as his lungs were leaking air, and had tendons repaired in his arm.

"He's my only son. Now I'm having nightmares as I'm upset that it happened to him and I can't get out of my head how scared he was [in the moment]. The cut on his arm was pretty bad and he was in surgery for hours. Now he's in a cast and they need to see how his fingers are as he can't move them at the moment," Sharday said today.

"I reckon he now has PTSD and won't be able to go out of the house for a very long time as it was a random attack. I'm scared to let him out of the house now. Even if he recovers, I'm never going to recover from it."

A masked man plunged the blade into Oshay's chest and slashed open his arm in Winston Green, Birmingham, where the youngster was treated at the scene before being rushed to hospital.

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A harrowing photograph, which the family has allowed the media to use, shows Oshay - an aspiring architect - stricken on a bed at Birmingham Children's Hospital after the attack on August 9.

Police rang Sharday, 35, to let her know about the ordeal and the desperate mum's "heart stopped" as she raced to the hospital. Sharday continued: "I got the call and it was awful. With the knife crime [in Birmingham] I always fear getting this call. At first I thought the call was a joke but then I realised it was for real. My heart stopped and I thought I was going to collapse.

"They [the attacker] almost killed my boy. The doctors said they don't know how he is alive. When I saw him in the hospital, I was screaming, crying and couldn't speak. He looked half dead in that bed. The zombie knives are huge. He knew what it was and told me about it."

Oshay, from Frankley, Worcestershire, made it out of hospital on August 13 in time to celebrate turning 16 on August 27. However, his worried mum is now sharing her son's story to make others aware of the impact the stabbing has had on the whole family.

She added: "We know that knives are dangerous but this doesn't just affect the person who is stabbed. It impacts the family members forever and changes lives forever.

"They almost killed him and he is very lucky, but there are others out there that aren't as lucky and the parents have to live with that. He almost didn't live his full life and almost didn't make it to his 16th birthday and that makes me sick to my stomach. No parents should have to go through what I've had to go through. It's the after effects I now have to worry about."

So-called zombie knives are banned in England and Wales under the Offensive Weapons Act 2019. Possession alone carries a jail term of up to six months, but knife crime victims have argued this law isn't being enforced enough.

Zombie-style knives and machetes are defined as weapons with blades over eight inches (20cm) in length, normally with a serrated cutting edge. More than 50,000 serious offences involved a knife of all types in the year to March 2024.

West Midlands Police continue to investigate Oshay's attack. A spokesperson said: "We're investigating after a teenage boy suffered stab injuries in Winson Green, Birmingham, on 9 August.

"Officers were alerted by ambulance colleagues at just before 7.20pm and attended Carlisle Street where they found the youngster with injuries to his chest and arm.

"The 15-year-old was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital with injuries. A forensic examination of the area was carried out and investigators are continuing with enquiries to identify and trace those involved.

"Anyone with information can contact us on 101 or via Live Chat on our website quoting crime reference 20/338436/25. Want to pass on information but not give your details? Speak 100% anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."