“Just to save one life in my friend’s name would mean the world to me.”

In February 2020, Babacar Diagne was tragically murdered by strangers. He was only 15 years old and had recently moved from Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham to Coventry - he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Nobody should lose their life to violence and Babacar's friends wanted to help educate other young people so that they could be protected from harm. They fundraised over £3,000 in his memory, and spent £700 on a memorial bench in their local park. The rest they donated to StreetDoctors, a charity training young people how to become lifesavers and learn about the realities of knife injuries from healthcare volunteers.

StreetDoctors runs sessions with young people to train them how to perform emergency first aid on someone who has been attacked, promoting protection and safety in the community. The donation will be used to deliver at least 10 sessions to 150 young people in local schools.

The StreetDoctors Birmingham and Warwick teams have set up the Babacar Diagne Memorial Programme to raise money to fund more grassroots training sessions in Coventry and Birmingham, where Babacar lived. Every donation will go towards delivering training in the area that will give young people hope - not just that they can save a life, but also that their lives are worth saving.

We want to give more young people and potential bystanders these life-saving skills, in honour of Babacar's memory.

Teigan, who was one of Babacar’s closest friends, says:

“Babacar was unique, he would show up unexpectedly and just make everybody laugh. I’ve got great memories with him that I’ll never forget, and it will always break my heart to know he was taken so young in such a horrific way. I hope young people receiving the training from StreetDoctors really take in what they’re being told because just to save one life in my friend’s name would mean the world to me. Not only do StreetDoctors educate they also teach young people what to do in the event of a stabbing or a fight. I think that’s so important because with the rate of knife crime in this day and age it’s not an uncommon occurrence for violence to take place. I hope Babacar is proud of everybody involved.”