"It's a good idea" - Caroline Willgoose shows support for school bleed training Bill heading to Parliament
“Anything that’s preventing is all good isn’t it - it’s moving forward”
The mum of a schoolboy who was fatally stabbed in school has said that things are “moving forward” as a law requiring schools to provide bleed response training heads to Parliament.
The Bill, by Birmingham Conservative MP Neil Shastri-Hurst, would see pupils get training on how to recognise “life-threatening bleeding” and provide treatment, as well as how to respond to an emergency.
Mr Shastri-Hurst, who represents the Solihull West and Shirley constituency, said it would build on current life-saving teaching in schools, which already includes CPR.
And as the proposal - titled the Emergency and life-saving skills (schools) Bill - is set to head for Parliament, Caroline Willgoose has said she thinks it’s a “really good idea.”
Caroline’s 15-year-old son Harvey died after a stabbing in front of horrified children and teachers at All Saints Catholic High School in February, 2025.
His killer, Mohammed Umar Khan, also15, was found guilty of murder at Sheffield Crown Court last year and detained for a minimum of 16 years.
Since her son’s death, Caroline has been campaigning to tackle knife crime, while calling on protective measures in schools like bleed kits and knife arches.
“I think they should learn all sorts of first aid things,” she added.
She went on to say: “Anything that’s preventing is all good isn’t it - it’s moving forward.”
In November last year, Binning Knives Saves Lives delivered 30 bleed kits - emergency bag designed to save lives and control catastrophic bleeding - were delivered to Sheffield schools.
Meanwhile, Caroline has spoken about her heart-breaking experience at schools, colleges and youth groups.
“I’m going into Excel [Martial Arts} again, talking to the children about Harvey’s story,” she continued.
“They are quite young as well, about seven upwards, but I think that’s the age because it sticks in their mind then - the consequences of both sides of the story.”
Mr Shastri-Hurst is a former honorary consultant trauma co-ordinator at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham and former British Army major.
His Bill still requires Government support if it is to become law.
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He told the Press Association: “It’s giving people the confidence to know not just to know what to do, but have the confidence to put that into action.
“It’s a low-tech set of training, you can do most of it with a drainpipe, a bit of foam and, as I say, a tie or a bandage or a handkerchief and a spoon.
“You can do the basic training on stop the bleed in about 10-15 minutes. They then go and explain it to their families, and all of a sudden you are building up a critical mass of individuals who know how to do it.”
He added: “It’s around building up our national resilience, and part of that national resilience is having a society that knows how to respond in an emergency.”