A paramedic recounted how he was faced with a sea of bodies, with patients and police officers “screaming for help” amid gunfire moments after terrorists began their murderous rampage on London Bridge.
Gary Edwards, 29, said he had “a gut feeling” about the extent of the tragedy as he arrived on the south side of the bridge at about 10.10pm on Saturday.
Mr Edwards said: “Someone ran towards me to ask for help.
“As this happened, ten gunshots went off behind me. It was very close — maybe 40 yards.
“I didn’t know if it was the police firing the guns or the enemies, or a bit of both — an exchange of fire. At this point I felt unsafe.
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“As soon as I heard the gunshots I put my ballistic armour on. I didn’t have time for my helmet.
“People were running towards me. I was worried someone was going to run towards me with a knife. I felt quite exposed. I felt like a target.”
He had been on solo duty in Southwark that evening in a Volvo fast-response car and was attending a call several streets away with Metropolitan Police officers when the first details came through on the police radio.
He said he feared there was something “more sinister” than initial reports, which suggested a possible drink-driver running down pedestrians on the bridge, as he ran towards danger.
He said: “We heard a van had hit multiple people on London Bridge. Instantly I had a gut feeling something was going on, something more sinister.”
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Mr Edwards recalled the moment he arrived on the scene.
“There was a sea of blue lights in front of me from the police cars. There were multiple patients lying on the floor, and lots of people running towards me as I parked up opposite the Post Office.”
“I couldn’t get any further up because of the amount of people and police cars. There were ten to 15 people lying all over the pavement and in the middle of the road.
“I’m being approached by lots of members of the public and police officers screaming for help. At that part of the bridge I was the first paramedic on the scene.”
Mr Edwards, one of about 80 called to the scene, said several casualties barricaded themselves in bars and restaurants amid fears the attack was continuing.
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He told the Evening Standard: “It wasn’t until we cleared these areas with the armed police that we found them.
“We were still unsure how many terrorists there were.
“We didn’t know who was still on the loose. It was still an unsafe area.
“The majority of people that were hiding were not injured. They were hiding in pubs, just for cover.
“We would find the odd person here or there with injuries — not all life-threatening injuries, more minor, walking wounded.”
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Mr Edwards, from Greenwich, was on the scene until 4.30am, and said he was running on adrenaline. He reported for duty again 14 hours later.
He said: “I felt the training I had received, due to the specialist area I work in, definitely helped. It allowed me to go into automatic mode and decide what the right tactic was to use in that situation.
“I volunteered for the role. I was prepared for it. I was preparing to deal with something like that one day.
“When it does happen it still takes you by surprise.”
Charlie Guenigault, 25, an off-duty policeman from Bexley, southeast London, was called “heroic” by friends, after he received knife wounds to the head, leg, back and stomach.
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The keen cricketer’s spleen had to be removed by surgeons and he is believed to be under sedation.
“He was out around London Bridge and Borough Market just having a drink when it all happened and from what I’ve heard he just switched to ‘police mode’ and I guess that mentality took over,” an unnamed friend told The Sun.
He continued: “It takes so much courage. Charlie risked his life. I’m not sure if he was in the pub when they came in or outside and fought them there but he definitely came face to face with the terrorists.
“What he did was heroic. I know he works for the police but it still takes so much courage to do what he did. He risked his life. I’ve known him since school. He’s a lovely bloke and would do anything to help anyone — as he’s clearly proved.”
Lieutenant Jared Bambridge, 23, of 1st Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, used his combat training to tend to at least ten people suffering injuries.
“We heard gunshots, a short sharp burst,” Lieutenant Bambridge told the newspaper.
He added: “The initial reaction for me was to basically go and see how I could help rather than do what most people were doing which was running in the other direction.
“Call it what you will, I put it down to the training and the fact we are trained to help. Our instant reaction is to try and give medical support to anyone who needs it.
The officer, from York, passed out of Sandhurst in April last year and joined his unit later that year.
He continued: “People were running. There was a lot of screaming I went to get stock of the situation. I found a bloke on the floor with two stab wounds in his back.”
Lieutenant Bambridge said that he made sure that his girlfriend was safe then “cracked on” with dealing with the casualties. He was back at work on Monday.