‘It was a team effort’: Ilford doctor describes how community pulled together to help teenager with gunshot wounds
Hornbeam Close. Picture: Imogen Braddick - Credit: Archant
A doctor who helped a teenager who had been shot in the elbow said he is sure the 19-year-old would have done for the same thing for him.
The teenager was treated by paramedics outside these houses in Hornbeam Close, where he knocked on doors looking for help. Picture: Imogen Braddick - Credit: Archant
The doctor, who did not want to be named, lives in Hornbeam Close, near Loxford Lane, where a man was found with gunshot injuries on Friday, June 28.
"I was coming back from football practice and as I was parking up I saw a young man knocking on people's doors," he said.
"He was saying 'I'm hurt, I have been stabbed'.
"He was not in a good state. One of my neighbours opened her door and called the ambulance."
The end of Hornbeam Close, where police believe he was shot. Picture: Imogen Braddick - Credit: Archant
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Other neighbours have described how the young man was screaming "I'm going to die" as he banged on doors looking for help.
The doctor said he tried to stop the bleeding on the teen's elbow as much as possible.
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"He had a couple of gashes on his face which looked like stab wounds at the time," he said. "I just tried to stop the blood as much as possible.
"My instinct was to help him - I had to stop the bleeding as much as I could and make sure the open wound didn't get infected.
Hornbeam Close. Picture: Imogen Braddick - Credit: Archant
"I had to make sure he didn't go into shock or get hypothermia."
The doctor got a wet towel and the neighbours helped by wrapping a cloth around his elbow and compressed it to stop the bleeding.
"All the neighbours were really helpful," he said. "I could not have done it on my own - people were helping, it really was a team effort."
By the time the ambulance arrived, the doctor said the young man was in a stable condition.
"I was just helping out," he said. "I'm sure the man would have done the same thing for me.
"If I was in that situation, I hope someone would have helped me too - that's what community is about."
A short time after the incident in Hornbeam Close, police were called to further reports of shots fired in High Road, Ilford.
No one is reported to have been injured following the incident in High Road, however police discovered evidence of a firearms discharge.
Both incidents are being treated as linked.
Police said the 19-year-old's condition is not life threatening and enquiries are ongoing.
