Jodie proudly appeared alongside her fellow Explorer Scouts supporting the Chelsea Pensioners at the Royal Festival Hall in November
TRAGIC Jodie Chesney proudly appears on the BBC in her Scouts uniform at the Festival of Remembrance just months before she was knifed to death.
The 17-year-old stood side-by-side with her fellow Explorer Scouts at the Royal Albert Hall for the November 2018 commemoration.
She could be seen in the touching video footage supporting the Chelsea Pensioners as they marched on stage in front of the Queen, Prince William, Prince Charles and Harry and Meghan.
The proud teen posted the clip on her Instagram saying: "I’m basically famous now :)
this was such a good opportunity and so much fun #festivalofremembrance #scouts #girlguides #10downingstreet".
Beaming Jodie had earlier that day posted a snap outside 10 Downing Street in her Explorer Scouts uniform.
She wrote: “I’m basically famous now, this was such a good opportunity and so much fun.”
Just months later, Jodie was knifed in the back by masked thugs as she sat with her boyfriend in a park in Romford, Essex.
The tragic teen was cradled by her distraught boyfriend as she lay dying, who begged her: "Please, please stay awake."
But sadly Jodie couldn't be saved and she slipped away in his arms on Friday - her father’s birthday.
The A-level student is said to have been stabbed so hard that the weapon snapped — leaving the blade lodged in her body.
Witnesses described hearing “blood-curdling” screams for help from her boyfriend, named locally as Eddie Coyle.
Teresa Farenden, 49, who lives opposite the scene, heard the shouts and ran to help.
Breaking down in tears, the mum-of-three said: “It was like being in a horror movie.
The boyfriend was holding her and kissing her face. He was whispering and begging her, ‘Please, please stay awake’
Neighbour Teresa Farenden
“When I got there she was breathing but it was very shallow, she was groaning and there was a slight pulse.
“There was so much blood. I told the ambulance lady, ‘She needs a blood transfusion, make sure they bring blood’.
“We tried to compress the wound to stop the bleeding but there was just so much.
“The boyfriend was holding her and kissing her face. He was whispering and begging her, ‘Please, please stay awake’.
“The ambulance arrived and I told the 999 call handler.
“She asked me to stay on the phone until the crew had reached us on the park. And in that moment the girl died.
“I turned to look at her and my friend, who had come to help, just said, ‘We’ve lost her’.”
A source said Jodie and Eddie were sitting on a bench with a male friend when five or six youths went over to them.
The source said: “They all had balaclavas covering their faces apart from one. Something ended up kicking off and that is when one of them pulled out the knife. Totally unprovoked.”
Jodie — who lived with her dad Peter and stepmum Joanne in nearby Dagenham — was the 65th teenager to be murdered in the London area in three years.
Friday was Peter’s 39th birthday. Jodie had posted a picture on Instagram of her with him and said “happy birthday Dad”’ — with a smiley face, a heart and some flowers.
A woman who answered the door at the family home last night said: “We are grieving. We have been asked not to say anything.”
Her grandmother Debbie Chesney paid tribute on Facebook as she called for an end to the violence sweeping the UK.
She said: "This was our youngest granddaughter. How have we come to this point where kids can’t have a walk in a park without suffering an unprovoked attack?
"If anyone knows anything about this please contact the police with information. We don’t want anyone else to go through what our family is suffering right now.
"This has to stop, there are too many young people having their lives cut short by needless violence."
Jodie's boyfriend was said to be "in pieces" following the horror yesterday.
His mum's partner told the Mail on Sunday: "Jodie was the nicest, loveliest and kindest person you could meet with everything to look forward to in life.
"I don't know how long it will take Eddie to comeback from this.
"To have to witness what he did is devastating.";
Jodie was a psychology and sociology student at Havering Sixth Form College.
One relative, who did not want to be named, said: “She was a beautiful, bright girl.
“Everyone is too devastated to speak at this time.”
Jodie had been a ranger guide in the Explorer Scouts — a section of the Scouts for 14-to 18-year-olds. Eddie was also in the Explorer Scouts.
She had met Boris Johnson as part of the group.
JODIE’S death means there have been 19 knife killings in Britain this year, with most of them in London:
January 1: Tudor Simionov, 33, in Paddington, and Charlotte Huggins, 33, in Camberwell.
January 8: Jaden Moodie, 14, in Leyton.
January 27: Kamil Malysz, 34, in Acton.
January 29: Nedim Bilgin, 17, was stabbed to death in Islington.
January 29: Lajean Richards, 19, in Battersea.
February 8: Aliny Mendes, 39, in Cheam.
February 10: Dennis Anderson, 39, East Dulwich.
February 17: Mohammed Sidali, 16, in Highgate, Birmingham.
February 18: Bright Akinleye, 22, in Euston.
February 20: Abdullah Muhammad, 16, in Small Heath, Birmingham.
February 21: Glendon Spence, 23, at a youth club in Camden.
February 23: Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, 19, in Wood Green.
February 23: Phillip Rooney, 32, near Wigan.
February 25: David Lopez-Fernandez, 38, at home in Bethnal Green.
February 25: Connor Brown, 18, in Sunderland.
February 25: Hazrat Umar, 17, in Bordesley Green, Birmingham.
March 2: A 50-year-old woman stabbed to death at home in Barnet.
In October 2016 she was pictured inside the grounds of Buckingham Palace with fellow Scouts after meeting TV presenter Phillip Schofield.
Relative Clare Palmeri paid tribute to Jodie on Facebook, saying: “She was a sweet, loving, beautiful and smart young lady. “My sister and brother-in-law are devastated by this completely senseless act of violence.”
Shocked friends laid flowers in the park yesterday and said Jodie was “the nicest person” who “never stopped smiling”.
Devastated pals also posted tributes and love hearts underneath the Instagram photo of Jodie and her dad.
Jodie was an aspiring photographer and had a separate Instagram profile to showcase her pictures.
Police have stepped up patrols around the park and appealed for help in identifying those responsible.
London mayor Sadiq Khan — who himself has a daughter aged 17 — said he was “filled with anger” by the killing.
He told Sky News: “This is a tragic, senseless loss of life.”
The death is the latest in a spree of killings in London boroughs.
A 20-year-old man was stabbed to death outside Ilford railway station in East London on Tuesday.
