Jonathan Gjoshe, the 23-year-old defender who was stabbed during a horrific LNER train knife attack in November, has spoken out for the first time about the moment he realised he had been cut, the chaos on board, and the fear he would never see his family agai
Jonathan Gjoshe thought he might never see his family again after a knife attack that tore through a train journey and changed his life in an instant.
The former Scunthorpe United footballer. now 23. was travelling back from Doncaster to London on Saturday. November 1. after playing for ninth-tier side Bottesford Town.. He had featured at full-back in Bottesford’s 2-1 home defeat to Handsworth and was on loan from National League club Scunthorpe United at the time.
With roughly an hour left on the journey, as the train entered Cambridgeshire, everything shifted.. Gjoshe was one of 11 people injured after the train had left Peterborough station, when a knife attack broke out.. He was rushed to hospital after being stabbed in the shoulder and has been rehabilitating since the incident. which has now been followed by an operation on his upper arm.. His bicep was slashed.
For the first time, Gjoshe described the moments he tried to escape.. “I remember jumping over the table, jumping over the chairs.. I was just running down the corridor. telling people. ‘there’s a guy with a knife. run. I’ve been stabbed. run. run. run’.” He added: “I was screaming.. I think I was the first person that got stabbed.. I felt the pain.. But adrenaline kicked in.”
He said the split second of movement gave him a chance to survive. “That split second, me jumping over the table, saved me. All I thought about was just running for my life, getting off that train. As I got down to the first or second carriage, I pulled the alarm, and was just drenched with blood.”
Gjoshe said the fear that hit hardest was not football. but the possibility of never returning to the people waiting for him at home.. “I was thinking I wasn’t going to see my family again. if I died. and that was the main worry for me. ” he said.. He noted he usually drove back down to London. but said the assault was the first time he had taken a train back.. “Normally I would drive back down to London.. That was the first time I got on a train to go back.. What’s the chance of that happening?. It’s crazy.”
The train eventually made an emergency stop at Huntingdon, where Gjoshe was able to get help from paramedics.
Since the attack, Gjoshe has focused on returning to the football pitch.. He had joined Scunthorpe only two months before the incident. having impressed during pre-season. and he had signed on non-contract terms.. He had hoped to prove himself at National League level. but after missing the majority of the campaign due to the injuries. Scunthorpe announced that he would be leaving the club after not being offered a new deal.
Gjoshe said he was disappointed by the decision, while also speaking of gratitude for support during recovery.. He credited Scunthorpe fans with raising £4,500 through a “GoFund Me”.. “The Scunthorpe fans started a ‘GoFund Me’, [raising £4,500],” he told BBC Sport.. “It helped me a lot.. The support they showed for me, the club as well, it meant a lot,” he said.. “Obviously [with] everything I’ve been through. I missed half a season… I didn’t get that chance that I wanted. ” he added.. “I was hoping they’d give me another year to prove that.. But unfortunately, I didn’t get that.. It’s quite disappointing.”
The case is now moving through the courts. Anthony Williams, 32, of Peterborough, has been charged with a total of 13 counts of attempted murder after using a kitchen knife on the LNER train back in November. The date set for his trial is October 26.
The sequence of events connects sharply: Gjoshe’s November 1 trip turned violent shortly after leaving Peterborough station. the train stopped at Huntingdon so he could receive help. and months later his injuries still shaped his football future—first through rehabilitation and then through Scunthorpe’s decision not to renew him after he missed the majority of the campaign.
As he looks toward playing again, Gjoshe’s first public account brings the attack’s personal stakes into focus—when adrenaline kicked in, when blood drenched him as he pulled the alarm, and when the thought of never seeing his family again briefly overpowered everything else.
Jonathan Gjoshe Scunthorpe United Bottesford Town Handsworth LNER train attack Anthony Williams attempted murder Huntingdon rehabilitation footballer stabbed