Slumped on the floor watching his blood pour out, Tariq Sheik feared he would die after he was struck with a machete.
The dad suffered horrific injuries when armed raiders Ricky Weatherson and Michael Quinn burst into his shop and threatened him before hitting him with the fearsome blade.
The blow was so forceful it shattered a bone in his shoulder and he was left bleeding on the shop floor.
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It has now been more than five years since the terrifying attack, which happened as Tariq was working at his family's business in Newcastle's West End. But the 43-year-old still suffers terrifying flashbacks of the incident.
And today, as part of our Stop Knives Taking Lives campaign Tariq has lifted the lid on the lasting trauma survivors of knife attacks experience.
Tariq said: "I can't forget it, I still get flashbacks, like it was yesterday. It will stay with me for the rest of my life."
Tariq was working alone at Ria Money, on Newcastle’s Westgate Road, when the violent raiders burst in, on February 19, 2018. The pair, whose faces were both concealed behind motorbike helmets, demanded money as one brandished a huge knife.
At first Tariq stood his ground. But when Tariq told Quinn he recognised his eyes he hit him on the shoulder with the machete.
Police arrived soon after the robbers had fled, and found Tariq seriously injured on the shop floor. And as blood poured from his open wound, the father-of-two admits he feared for his life.
After the robbers were jailed in 2018 he described the terrifying moments in which he feared he might die: “The police were holding my hand and trying to stop the blood. There was a lot of blood, my heartbeat was fast and my mouth was drying. I was panicking, I thought I was going to die. I thought this could be it. I have two children, and I was thinking; ‘Who would look after them’.
“I was in a lot of pain I knew it was very very serious when I saw the blood running and it didn’t stop.
“One police officer was saying; "We need to take him to hospital’, but the other was saying to wait for the paramedics."
Dad-of-two Tariq was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) where he spent around seven hours undergoing emergency surgery. Medics also discovered the impact of the machete had broken a bone in his shoulder. And he still feels lucky to have survived.
"It was a big big knife and a big machete," he said. "I do think I'm lucky to be alive. If they had hit me on the neck I could have been killed.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how the raid on Tariq's shop was the most violent of a series of armed robberies across Tyneside between December 2017 and February 2018.
Weatherson, Quinn and accomplice Kevin Shippen, targeted businesses and cash carriers during the reign of terror.
And to help carry out their brazen crimes they broke into family homes to steal keys to the cars that would become their getaway vehicles, piling fear and misery on yet more innocent victims.
They all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.
In October 2018 Weatherson, 27, of Rushie Avenue, in Scotswood, was handed an extended sentence of 15 years plus four years on licence, and Quinn, 37, of Colston Street, Benwell, was given 16 years with four years on licence.
Shippen, 41, of Whickham View, Benwell, was handed a jail term of 13 years and three months.
After seeing his attackers jailed, Tariq has tried his best to put his ordeal behind him. But he still lives with the fear daily.
"It does make me nervous around strangers," he said. "I get nervous when I'm alone. I still feel like they are going to come in."
Tariq, who was born in Pakistan believe the UK needs to get tough on those caught carrying knives so that criminals no longer think it's acceptable to possess weapons like machetes.
He added: "They are not getting properly punished. In my country if the police caught you with a weapon like that you'd get a real punishment. You would get a punishment you would remember all your life."
The Chronicle launched its Stop Knives Taking Lives campaign in February. We are calling on everyone in the North East to work together to tackle knife crime.
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