In the last year I’ve lost three friends. First my friend James passed away in a tragic car accident (rest in peace mate). Then Richard, a friend and volunteer from Sidcup Youth Club, died from a natural heart attack (rest in peace mate). And now Rob Knox, a good friend, has been brutally murdered in a heartless knife attack (rest in peace mate).
All of them have gone and left us for a better place and will never be forgotten. The first two deaths were accidents or fate, and after time they can be accepted. But the last, the murder of my good friend Rob, can’t be in the slightest bit accepted as fate or an accident.
Rob had his whole successful life in front of him. I will always remember him as one of the funniest people. You could always have a laugh with him. It didn’t matter what mood he was in, he would communicate well.
He was a top bloke and always up for a joke. ‘Peter Kay’ as I used to call him. He would also go out of his way to do things for other people and always tried not to leave anyone out. He wasn’t involved with gangs or anything like that.
The night Rob died will never be forgotten. A terrible night. A group of us had been out that evening but I decided to go home early. I don’t want to think about what could have happened to me if I had been there.
I know I wouldn’t have been able to just stand back and watch what happened to Rob and the other boys who were hurt. It could easily have been me in their position.
I don’t know how a human being could do that to another person. I don’t honestly want to begin to imagine how the killer felt or what he thought he was doing. He now has to live with that.
The guilt will be inside him and you can never change that. Taking someone’s life is no joke. It means they can never be brought back. It’s the worst thing you could do.
Many young people don’t understand the pain and grief that is caused by heartless acts like this. From my own thoughts I know that nobody can imagine what his family are going through. To me it feels like you just put your life on pause and you don’t want to press play again.
The worst thing is having to resume life as usual, carry on what you where doing before, go back to the steady pace of normal life. It’s a horrible feeling that’s very hard to live with.
Carrying a knife or any other weapon used to bring harm to another is not acceptable. It is not a sign of being brave or hard. It shows low self-confidence; it’s a sign of being scared. If you carry or use a knife the consequences are immense and often irreversible.
Half the people probably don’t think that someone could die when they first go out carrying a knife. I believe they go out thinking they’ll just harm or injure, not kill another human. We all need to think just that one step ahead before we act.
Just put yourself in the victim’s situation before you walk out the door carrying what you think is a safety measure. Imagine what it’d be like if someone killed one of your loved ones.
About this article
This story was written by Louis Ebdon, 17, for Headliners in partnership with Sidcup Youth Centre.
A version of this article was published in The People, July 6 2008.
