Teachers at a Greenford school were “covered in blood” as they fought to keep a stabbed teenage pupil alive.

Carrington Mgbeanulu, 15, lost five pints of blood ion a matter of minutes after he was knifed just inches from his heart following a confrontation at the gates of Cardinal Wiseman School in Greenford at around 4pm last Thursday, November 6.

However, the quick actions of three staff members at the high-achieving Catholic school in Greenford Road saved his life, as he was suffering from a punctured lung.

One of the first people to see him seconds after the attack was school chaplain Cecilia Finn, who saw him as he staggered back into the school foyer.

She said: “When I first saw him he was with a crowd of friends all shouting and screaming and I could not understand what they were saying, I thought they were fooling around.

“Then I saw him and saw the blood. He was struggling to stand up so I grabbed him and held him up and told his friends to move away and calm down.

“Two of us managed to get him into the medical room, but he was understandably in a very agitated state and I couldn't have managed him on my own.

“We got him up onto the bed and immediately got pressure on the wound, but there was nothing we could do.

“I was holding his hand a talking to him to try and keep him awake. He was saying 'Don't let me die'.”

P.E teacher Mark Brown was the man who helped Ms Finn get Carrington into the medical room, and the one who held the bandages on his wound.

He explained: “I could not believe the amount of blood there was, I didn't understand how he was still standing.

“I knew I had to stop the bleeding and calm him down and stop his heart from beating so fast.

“The only thing going through my mind was to try and keep the pressure on, it felt more like an hour than 10 minutes.

“I've had first aid training but I really never expected to have to use it in a situation like this.”

The Air Ambulance landed on a playground in the middle of the school and rushed him to hospital where he was immediately put on the critical list.

Acting headteacher of Cardinal Wiseman Michael Kiely said: “I went to see Carrington on Sunday and he was awake and talking, although I think he was pleased to see me go so he could get back to his Bebo site.

“This was nothing to do with gangs or inter-school rivalries, and it happened 45 minutes after school had finished.

“Thank god for the quick reaction of these members of staff who have saved his life.”

The school was shut on Friday while police carried out enquiries, but some children did go in to talk to staff members about the incident.

Mr Kiely said: “On Monday we held assemblies for every year group and explained to them what had happened.

“That seems to have got the spirit in the school back to normal, and now we re concentrating on business as usual.”

A 16-year-old boy from Southall has been charged with Grievous Bodily Harm with intent and remanded in custody.