A die-hard soccer fan who was stabbed multiple times in Saturday’s terrorist attack in London has recalled taking on the assailants in a three-against-one fight while armed with only his bare hands.
Roy Larner, who suffered eight stab wounds in the ruthless attack, was inside the Black and Blue restaurant and bar with friends when the terrorists charged inside with their weapons drawn, he said in an interview in The Sun on Tuesday.
“They had these long knives and started shouting about Allah. Then it was, ‘Islam, Islam, Islam,’” he recalled from a hospital bed.
Instead of running in fear, Larner said he turned to them and started shouting right back while evoking the name of his beloved soccer team, the Millwall Football Club, which has a history of hooliganism among some fans.
(One of the team’s chants includes the words: “No one likes us. We don’t care.”)
“I took a few steps towards them and said, ‘Fuck you, I’m Millwall.’ So they started attacking me,” he said. “It was the worst thing I could have done as they carried on attacking me.”
The 47-year-old was visited by friends while he was in intensive care for his injuries. They jokingly gave him a copy of a Runner’s World manual, “Learn to Run.”
Speaking to The Mail Online from the hospital, he said, “I just did what I had to do.”
“I was on my own against all three of them, that’s why I got hurt so much,” he told the website. “It was just me, trying to grab them with my bare hands and hold on. I was swinging.”
“I got stabbed and sliced eight times. They got me in my head, chest and both hands. There was blood everywhere,” he said, while sharing that doctors estimate he’ll remain hospitalized for the next week.
An online fundraiser has been launched to help with his medical expenses and recovery. An online petition — which as of Tuesday has received more than 3,000 signatures — also seeks his nomination for the George Cross medal for gallantry, which is often awarded to civilians.
“Roy Larner charged at the terrorists on London Bridge to try and stop them and help others escape, he ended up getting himself stabbed multiple times,” the Change.org petition reads. “He should be acknowledged and rewarded for [his] actions!”