Mark Bracewell was 11-years-old when he witnessed a murder. Years later he found his own life at risk when he was attacked after trying to break up a fight. Recounting the event he said: "He ran off and left me to die."
Following the attack in 2016, Mark was rushed to the hospital and woke up in "immense pain" after being left partially blinded. He said: "I just felt alone and I felt scared and I had a lot of time to reflect on the decisions I had made in life and ultimately the decisions that put me in that bed."
It was then that Mark, from Moss Side, decided to end the cycle of crime that had followed him around since witnessing another life being taken in his formative years. He has since dedicated his life to raising awareness of the dangers of carrying weapons and worked to help young people in difficult situations.
Speaking to Hollyoaks actor Richard Blackwood as part of the Channel 4 soap's IRL [In Real Life] series, in which cast members speak to those affected by the topics they cover, Mark, 45, said he had "no aspirations," adding: "Words are a powerful thing and when you are told you’re no good and you ain't gonna be anything eventually you think, 'this is what I know, this is what I know and I’m gonna do….even though you know the risks and the chance….you might die."
As part of the Hollyoaks' interview, Mark, who now lives in Stoke-on-Trent, returned to his childhood home in Moss Side, where he first witnessed a murder at the age of eleven and joined a gang when he was 13. "I don’t feel good that I made it out of here but that I made it out of here alive," he said. "Because there's a lot of people that didn't. Whether that be physically dead or spending a long time in prison.
"I witnessed my first murder at the age of 11 which is obviously something no child should have to witness." He goes on to describe how he lost a friend to a shooting.
"There used to be a takeaway here and we used to come here as kids...I was with my 14-year-old friend earlier that day, next thing I heard on the News at Ten was that he had been shot and murdered."
"Before you know it one of your best mates is getting stabbed or getting shot, getting kidnapped, getting beaten," he added. "They become your family. It’s a vicious circle. It was just back and forth... and one day I went out and committed an armed robbery with a knife. I didn't use it on my victim but I showed it him and scared him with the knife."
Aged 26 at the time, Mark, who was kidnapped and shot when he was 14, was sentenced to seven years and seven months in prison but spent three-and-a-half years behind bars. Later, after being released, Mark found himself a victim of knife crime.
He explained how on a night out, a friend he was with got into an altercation. "And because I was too scared of what that person would think of me if I didn't jump in and help, I jumped in and helped."
During the incident, on New Year's Eve 2016, Mark was stabbed in the face, with the weapon going through his eyebrow to his eye, severing his optic nerve and shattering his cheekbone. Then he pulled it out and shoved it in my neck and then ran off and left me to die."
Recalling the moment he was left injured, Mark said: "Everyone was running around screaming, panicking and in that moment I cried out to the only thing that at that time I knew could help me. I said, 'Please God, I don't want to die'. And some people laugh at me when I tell them this but as clear as you can hear me now, I heard him say, 'You're not going to die, I just need you to sleep', and in that moment everything became calm and everything became still and I ended up telling people to stay calm."
He decided not to call an ambulance and it was an onlooker who drove him to the hospital where Mark then walked himself into A&E before he was rushed into surgery. "I had a lot of time to reflect on the decisions I've made in life and ultimately the decision that put me into that hospital bed."
Mark, who is married to wife Kelisha and has a son, Zion, now works closely within communities to help young people find a future outside of gangs. He co-founded an organisation called Blinded Faith, mentoring at-risk children.
"I want to see that everyone has equal opportunities and a chance to make it in life and off the streets," he said. "It’s never too late to change, you can be all you are meant to be. It doesn’t matter what mistakes you have made in the past. You are all saviours in the making."
He added: "I stopped making the same mistakes I kept making over and over again like carrying knives, like being around people with knives and ultimately being stabbed by a knife, I just realised that wasn't benefiting anybody and it most certainly benefitting me. Now I go out of my way to make other people's lives better."
Reflecting on Mark's story Hollyoaks actor Richard said: "If you want a reason to not get involved in the streets it's right here….."
Discussing their shared experiences, the soap star added: "I grew up around knife crime and I was lucky I came out unscathed, but I know people that didn’t."
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