Knife crime: 'It never ends well' - the warning from stabbing victim who narrowly avoided death

• Video report by ITV Wales correspondent Richard Morgan

A knife crime victim who came terrifyingly close to death has issued a stark warning that carrying weapons "never ends well".

Survivor Wes was set upon by a gang and stabbed while working as a drugs courier in Newport aged 16.

He is only alive today, he says, thanks to an emergency 999 call being made in the nick of time. He was left unconscious for five days and needed life-saving surgery.

He told ITV Cymru Wales: "All I remember is I felt hot and then cold and a tingling sensation going down my left side.

"As I looked, my whole left side was red - each finger (blood) was dripping off me. Clearly I'd been stabbed at this point."

Wes needed life saving surgery and was unconscious for five days. He woke up to find his distraught grandparents by his bedside.

"My grandparents were there, crying and very upset.

"The doctor was saying the reason I was alive was because the call was made in time - that was it, nothing else.

"My grandparents actually said they were watching the surgeons operate on their grandson."

Wes shared advice to any young person getting involved in the world of knife crime and drugs.

He said: "Whether you get involved in dealing, whether you pick up that knife, do you know where you're going when you go down that road? Because when you think about it, especially when it comes to knives, whether you use it or one gets used on you - either way it doesn't well.

"Whichever way you look at it, it won't end well."

ITV Cymru Wales has been given special access to a unit tackling knife crime in the capital city.

Patrolling in unmarked cars, they're on the look out for drugs and the weapons that go with them.

One officer, whose identity has been protected, says knife crime is still a problem in Cardiff.

They said: "Violence is the only way a lot of organised crime and drug dealers can enforce their debt.

"We don't have people generally habitually carrying weapons but if they want to go and sort an issue out, they will arm themselves to do that.

"There will always be a market for drug dealers because it's supply and demand. There is a demand so there will be a supply."

Wes's story is one of those being used in an anti knife crime video being shown at the new community in Cardiff's Grangetown. Statistics show that those who carry knives are more likely to be stabbed themselves.

Statistics show those who carry knives are more likely to be stabbed themselves - just one fact learned by youngsters at the community centre.

Thankfully, knife crime is down in Wales. Progress - says the boss of the Wales Violence Prevention Unit - largely down to community work like the session in Grangetown.

Ibby, himself a former victim of stabbing, went on to be become a successful footballer. He now shares his experiences with young people.

"He was walking fast behind me and stabbed me in the back," Ibby said.

"(The community session) would have benefitted me in so many different ways. It would build up my confidence and obviously it would open my eyes not to hang out with the wrong people as well."