'I TOOK A DEEP BREATH AND CHARGED THE FIRST ONE'
London Bridge hero cop reveals how he was stabbed in the head as he battled three crazed terrorists with just his baton – but kept fighting
A HERO policeman has revealed how he was temporarily blinded in one eye after taking on all three of the crazed London Bridge terrorists - with just his baton.
Brave Wayne Marques, who has spoken publicly for the first time since the terror attack earlier this month, said he thought he was going to die after being stabbed multiple times.
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The British Transport Police officer was left blinded in one eye as they swiped at him with their knives.
He said: "I remember grabbing my baton with my right hand and I racked (extended) it. I took a deep breath and I just charged the first one (attacker)."
He added: "As I got near him I swung at him with everything I had as hard as I could, straight through his head, trying to go for like a knock-out blow.";
He said he heard the attacker "yelp in pain".
The 38-year-old was near the start of his Saturday nightshift and on patrol with a colleague in the area of London Bridge Station when he heard screams.
He said he knew something was wrong when he saw bouncers and customers queuing to get into a nearby bar standing "like deers in the headlights".
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The three terrorists wearing stab-proof vests drove a van into pedestrians at 50mph on London Bridge before attacking revellers with hunting knives.
Wayne, who was born in Birmingham but lives in south London, initially thought the disturbance was a pub fight that had spilled out on to the streets - or maybe a gang fight "at the most".
He was approached by an off-duty Metropolitan Police officer who said he saw someone stabbed, and shortly afterwards PC Marques himself witnessed people being attacked in Borough High Street near the junction with London Bridge Street.
Wayne, who has worked with BTP for just under two years, described the "instant darkness" when he was stabbed in the head by one of the depraved monsters.
He said: "He'd hit me so hard that my right eye went lights out straight away, I just went blind."
The officer believes the fight lasted just 90 seconds - during which time he fought off terrorists Rachid Redouane, 30, Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, and Youssef Zaghba, 22.
He recalled being stabbed in the leg by the first attacker, saying: "I'm thinking 's**t, there's a knife in my leg while I'm fighting the second one and the third one'.
After being stabbed in the hand he said he could remember little except for "swinging (my baton) all over the place".
He continued: "I didn't realise how badly I was hurt. The adrenaline, the fighting, all of that, I could feel what they were doing to me but I couldn't feel it at the same time.
"I could just feel that I'd been cut and hurt."
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Brave Wayne also described in harrowing detail the moment the terror trio all stood facing him as one chanted "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar" with his "eyes bulging".
He said: "The three of them were standing together almost shoulder-to-shoulder in like a little wolf pack and they're staring at me. And that's when I get to size them up.
"And I'm basically just like a cowboy western movie waiting for the draw, waiting for them to make their move."
Eight people were killed and 48 were injured when the three jihadi knife nuts ploughed into pedestrians with a van before slashing Saturday night revellers and tourists at the beginning of this month.
Terrorists Rachid Redouane, 30, Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, all died from multiple gunshot wounds in Borough Market on June 3.
Yesterday their inquests were opened and adjourned at Southwark Coroner’s Court, less than a quarter of a mile from their scene of their attacks.
Assistant Commissioner of Met Police Mark Rowley confirmed that all three of the depraved attackers were shot and killed within eight minutes of the first call to emergency services.
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The first victim was named as Canadian national Christine Archibald, a charity worker from British Columbia.
Her family revealed that she used to work in a shelter for the homeless before deciding to move to Europe to be with her fiancé.
James McMullan, from Hackney, East London, was named as the second victim by his grieving sister Melissa, who said: “Words will never be able to match his essence.”
Xavier Thomas, 45, Ignacio Echeverria, 39, Alexandre Pigeard, 27, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, and Sara Zelenak, 21, were also killed.
BTP chief constable Paul Crowther, who visited PC Marques in hospital, previously said: "Although he is seriously unwell, he was able to recount how he faced the attackers armed only with his baton outside London Bridge station.
"For an officer who only joined us less than two years ago, the bravery he showed was outstanding and makes me extremely proud.
"All of us at BTP wish him a swift recovery and I know he will be touched by the hundreds of messages of support from across the UK and the world."
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