Girl stabbed in London speaks

An Australian schoolgirl who was seriously injured in a stabbing attack in London has spoken for the first time since the harrowing ordeal.

Lailia Johnson and her mum Samantha, 34, from NSW, were on holiday when they were allegedly approached by 32-year-old Ioan Pintaru in Leicester Square on August 12.

Lailia, 11, was allegedly stabbed eight times in what police have described as a “random, attack”.

She revealed in an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph that just a day after the incident, she was out of hospital.

“I had to get to the Taylor Swift concert,” she joked.

Laila was escorted to Wembley Stadium, with the two police officers who came to her aid last week, where she sat ina VIP box to watch the superstar perform.

“It was amazing,” she said.

Ms Johnson told the newspaper she was in awe of her daughter’s strength after the horrific incident.

“She was still very sore, but she was getting up and dancing,” Laila’s mum said.

“Hero” security guard Abdullah, 29, was recognised as a hero at an Independence Day ceremony at the Pakistan High Commission in London after stepping in to save Laila.

“I saw outside there was a guy who was stabbing a girl, so as I saw him stabbing the girl, I started to run towards the guy,” he said last week.

“I jumped on the guy and grabbed his hand in which he was carrying a knife. I tackled him down on the floor and kicked the knife away from him.

“There was only one thought – to save the kid and save her mum, nothing else.”

Mr Pintaru faced a London court last week, which heard he allegedly “approached (Laila), placed her into a headlock, he’s then stabbed her eight times to the body”.

The mother and daughter returned home to Candelo, near Bega on the NSW south coast, on Thursday after the European trip to watch the Matildas at the Paris Olympics.

Laila has not missed a beat since being home, her mum says, and even performed the lead role in an Alice In Wonderland play at her school on Monday.

“Nothing will stop her,” Ms Johnson said.

“I was expecting her to crumble when she got home, but that didn’t happen”.

Laila told the Telegraph she would not let her experience taint memories of London.

“I’ve met so many lovely people, especially in the hospital and the police who have been looking after me,” Laila said.

“They’ve just been so lovely.”

– Read the full story in The Daily Telegraph.