Copyright dailyrecord
A project manager has described how she pleaded with a train knifeman to spare her life before he told her: "The Devil is not going to win." Dayna Arnold, 48, boarded the London-bound LNER Azuma with her partner, site manager Andy Gray, 37, but within minutes witnessed the horrifying attack unfold near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire,. The couple had been sitting in Coach J, at the opposite end of the carriage from the assailant, when he began an eight-minute rampage that left two people fighting for their lives. She said she became separated from Andy as passengers fled in panic. When she fell to the floor, she begged, "please don't," as the attacker stood over her holding a six-inch kitchen knife, reports the Mirror. Dayna said: "I was running and when I looked back I saw the knifeman running after me. I fell down and I just said, 'Please don't kill me'. Something shifted in his face and he just carried on. He said: 'The devil is not going to win.'" She added: "We just feel very lucky today. If we had been sat at the other end of the carriage, we'd might not be here." Andy — still wearing the blood-splattered knitted jumper — said he first witnessed the violent attack just minutes after the train had left Peterborough station. He said: "We were on the same carriage. Within about five minutes we just heard the panic and commotion in people's voices. "I didn't see him but I saw the knife moving, plunging. I pushed Dayna but we were separated. There was this young lad who was about 19 or 20. "He had gashes on his arm and a severe puncture under his arm. There was a lot of blood coming out of him. He said, 'I've been stabbed, please help me'. "It looked like an artery had been hit. I took off my belt and made a tourniquet. He was saying, 'Please call my dad, I don't want to die'." After escaping the train, Dayna and Andy were given a complimentary room at a nearby pub. Today, they returned to Huntingdon station to travel down to Milton Keynes. Andy said: "I still have [the victim's] blood on my jumper. I heard there were two people critical so I hope we saved his life."
