Terrorist said '˜this is for Islam' before stabbing my son, mother says

The mother of a 23-year-old stabbed in the London terror attack has said he was approached by a man who said 'this is for Islam' before sticking a knife in him.

Debris and abandoned cars remain on London Bridge at the scene of the terror attack in central London. Picture: CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/AFP/Getty Images

Elizabeth O’Neill said her son Daniel was out with a friend and his girlfriend when he stepped outside the bar and was attacked.

Speaking to reporters outside King’s College Hospital on Sunday she said: “He had just stepped outside the bar for a second and a man ran up to him and said ‘this is for my family, this is for Islam’ and stuck a knife straight in him.

“He has got a seven-inch scar going from his belly round to his back.”

Ms O’Neill said her son went in to the pub after the attack and the man ran away.

She added: “There was shots fired, everybody was told to lie down and then they were told to go downstairs in the bar.

“At this stage, Daniel’s friend had put a tourniquet on him and was holding pressure there.”

She said he was taken downstairs and then the police took him in their car to the hospital and that she was trying to find those officers to thank them.

“The police have been absolutely fantastic, the nurses, staff have been absolutely, absolutely amazing,” the mother noted.

She said she and her son, who was able to talk to her, were still in shock and described the attacks as “absolutely senseless” and the attackers as “callous and barbaric” and “absolute cowards”.

“These people say they are doing it in the name of god which is an absolute joke,” she added.

Asked about her son’s condition, she said: “We are not sure yet, the ultrasounds were good but he is still quite sick so we can’t rule out any kidney damage.”