Dan with his girlfriend Gemma (Picture: Lynne Baird)
The early morning sunlight was blinding as the police car came to a halt outside my home.
Then came a knock on my door that changed my life forever.
Nothing prepares you for officers delivering that knock. What followed was a state of shock that I don’t think I have ever truly recovered from.
My son, Daniel Baird (better known as Dan), was always so happy-go-lucky. One of the youngest of my eight children, he worked hard in construction but was thrilled to find out in July 2017 that he’d got an exciting new job at a car manufacturer.
This new job would give him the stability to move out of our family home, get married to his girlfriend, Gemma, and settle down with a mortgage.
Dan was excited to settle down with Gemma (Picture: Lynne Baird)
In many ways, Dan’s routine on July 7 was just like any other Friday. He spent time with Gemma and went to the gym, but then he planned a night out with his mates to celebrate his new job.
It was actually the happiest I had truly ever seen him. ‘I’m just off to the pub, I’ll see you later, Mum,’ he shouted out to me as he left.
‘See you later,’ I replied, not knowing I would never actually see him ever again.
Dan was just 26 years old when he died (Picture: Lynne Baird)
What happened next is what I’ve been told by the police.
Dan’s friend, Dale, got into an altercation with another group of men – who they didn’t know – following a row over an electronic punch bag in the Forge Tavern in Digbeth, Birmingham.
After the pub closed in the early hours, one of the men pursued Dan and Dale down the street and stabbed them both. My son and his friend ended up being driven to the hospital – which was only a few minutes away – by a passerby.
Dan (R) with a friend (Picture: Lynne Baird)
Within this time, the police came to my home at around 5am on July 8 and asked me: ‘Are you Daniel Baird’s mum? Can you get yourself and the family up to the hospital as soon as you can?’
I don’t remember them actually telling me the reason why though. In fact, the rest of the night is a blur because I immediately went into a state of shock.
Unfortunately, by the time I arrived at the hospital with my son-in-law Deklan, it was too late. A doctor told me that Dan had already died and it hit me like a gut punch.
He was just 26 years old. It was a horrible experience that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
My son, Daniel Baird, was always so happy-go-lucky (Picture: Adam Hughes / SWNS)
Family members began filing in after I asked them to come to the hospital. Each one broke down. We couldn’t believe it and it didn’t feel fair that Dan had died so suddenly – especially after he felt so hopeful about his life with his new job.
Thankfully, Dale recovered after a few days in hospital. He was devastated to hear of Dan’s death.
The following months were hell because the killer was still at large – even though police told me they knew who it was. At the same time, Dan also had to have two post-mortems so his body wasn’t actually released until two months later in September.
I couldn’t even bring myself to leave my home during this time.
Dan’s killer was finally convicted in February 2019 (Picture: Lynne Baird)
On September 15, we finally had his funeral, but the funeral director actually told me that my son wasn’t ‘fit for viewing’. It broke my heart because I couldn’t properly see him and say goodbye.
As for justice for Dan, his killer was finally convicted in February 2019. He went down for murder, wounding with intent, attempted wounding, violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon and will serve at least 23 years in prison.
In the aftermath, I couldn’t get Dan’s senseless death – over an electronic punching bag of all things – out of my mind. If only someone had been there to help stem the bleeding, maybe he would still be alive today.
Dan (L) and his mother Lynne (R) (Picture: Lynne Baird)
It’s this thought that led to conversations with my other son, Tom – who is a doctor – about the reality of bleeding out. It can take just minutes for the very worst to happen.
Obviously, there are first aid kits, but what if there were kits specifically for when someone is losing a lot of blood while they wait for emergency services?
So I started having conversations with the local ambulance service to get something like this off the ground. In November 2017, we’d come up with a prototype of something we’d later call a ‘bleed control kit’.
The kit itself contains items that can stop a bleed (Picture: Lynne Baird)
By February of 2018, the West Midlands ambulance service helped us redesign it to what we have today, which is now used by wider emergency services too, as well as pubs, train stations and even individual homes.
The kit itself contains items that can stop a bleed, like a tourniquet (a device wrapped tightly around a limb to prevent the flow of blood), different types of bandages and haemostatic gauze, gloves, scissors, and even a chest seal that can stop lungs from deflating after deep puncture wounds.
Today, I estimate that there are around 20,000 kits in the UK after we established The Daniel Baird Foundation.
Lynne Baird with bleed control kits (Picture: Lynne Baird)
I estimate that there are around 20,000 kits in the UK (Picture: Lynne Baird)
How it works is that if you call up emergency services, they can tell you if there’s a bleed control kit near you. Then they can help guide you through using it. In the six years since its invention, it’s already had an incredible impact.
Just a few weeks ago, a woman was stabbed in the neck. Horrified members of the public called 999 and were directed to a bleed control kit that contained a trauma bandage and items to stem the bleed. She thankfully survived.
I know of kits used in the wake of dog attacks, gun shot wounds and even after an accident in a glass factory (Picture: Adam Hughes / SWNS)
Another woman on a moving train had a severe bleed relating to a pre-existing condition and staff didn’t know what to do. They called 999, and emergency services informed them that there was actually a kit on the train already, so they were instructed on how to use the tourniquet.
She also survived, after paramedics took over her medical care at the next stop.
There was even a man who was impaled on a railing and first responders managed to access a kit to save him. The Daniel Baird Foundation had donated kits to the responders.
I’d like to see bleed control kits on every street in every town, village or city (Picture: Adam Hughes / SWNS)
The Daniel Baird Foundation
To find out more about bleed control kits, visit The Daniel Baird Foundation’s website here.
I know of kits used in the wake of dog attacks, gun shot wounds and even after an accident in a glass factory. Catastrophes like these can happen anywhere, so that’s why I’d like to see bleed control kits on every street in every town, village or city.
When it comes to knife crime specifically, the sad reality of the situation is that I don’t think we can actually stop it because it’s been around forever. But this is a way to prevent deaths when the unthinkable happens.
I don’t want any parent to have to go through what I did (Picture: Lynne Baird)
I believe that if a kit like this existed when Dan was stabbed, he might be around today.
That’s why it’s important for me to do the work I do. I’m technically retired, but I’ll never stop fighting this fight.
I don’t want any parent to have to go through what I did after the police knocked on my door that fateful morning.
As told to James Besanvalle
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