Family of murder victim Casey Badhams want life-saving kits all over Halifax

Casey Badhams died after being stabbed in broad daylight on Myrtle Avenue in Ovenden last August.

People living nearby made desperate first aid attempts to help the 21-year-old but he died from his injuries.

Now his mum, Mina Kershaw, and her cousin, Jade Kershaw, want to see bleed control cabinets - containing medical supplies that can stop bleeding - rolled out across Halifax and Bradford.

With kits made easily accessible, they hope the campaign will stop more lives being lost to knife crime.

"If we can prevent one person from going through what we have then it would be a good thing to do in Casey's memory," said Mina.

The last five years have seen five knife killings in North Halifax.

Casey was friends with one of the other victims - 17-year-old Jamie Brown, who was killed at a Halloween party in Ovenden in 2018 - and was deeply affected by his death.

"He had a really big heart," said Mina. "He always wanted to help people."

Casey grew up in Halifax, attending Ash Green Primary School in Mixenden and Trinity Academy Halifax.

He enjoyed playing on his computer and was close to his sister and two brothers.

From the age of seven, he wanted to join the Army, and applied for twice but was refused entry because of thyroid issues.

He had been hoping to earn more qualifications so that he could travel to Thailand and work with his uncle there but had recently moved in with his grandma in Mixenden so that he could help while she was suffering some health issues.

Casey was also enjoying being an uncle to two-year-old Rosie.

"He adored her and was a brilliant uncle," said Mina.

"What happened to him doesn't seem real. It's just been a nightmare."

"You don't think it'll ever happen to you but then it does, it's just disbelief.

"I wake up and wish it was all a dream."

Casey's family has launched an online fundraising page and is appealing for donations to fund the kits.

Costing £600, each cabinet contains a kit including trauma dressings, gauze, chest seals and tourniquets to help stop serious bleeding.

As well as helping victims of violent crime, they could be used to help people involved in crashes.

Some cities already have cabinets like these in place thanks to other mothers of knife-crime victims doing the same kind of fundraising.

Halifax nightclub The Acapulco has already agreed to sponsor a cabinet to be installed in memory of Casey.

Acapulco owner Simon Jackson said he thinks the project is a fabulous idea and, whilst one cabinet is an excellent start, there should be multiple kits available around the town centre.

The Daniel Baird Foundation - set up in memory of a 26-year-old who was fatally stabbed in 2017 and which has distributed bleed control cabinets around the country - has also donated a kit and, thanks to funds raised so far, the family have enough to install a second cabinet.

To donate to help Casey's family install more cabinets, visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/casey-badhams