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LONDON (AP) — A British Transport Police officer who fought off three extremists in London's Borough Market with only a baton thought he was going to die after being stabbed multiple times.
Wayne Marques told Britain's Press Association on Wednesday that he heard screams on June 3 and thought a fight had broken out at a pub. Marques, 38, ran toward it, baton extended.
"I took a deep breath and I just charged the first one (attacker)," he said "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 knockout blow."
Marques heard the attacker "yelp in pain."
Even in a country where police officers rarely carry guns, the story of Marques and his baton has stood out among the many reports of people attempting to fight off attackers Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba. The trio rammed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and then stabbed people nearby before being shot and killed by police.
Eight people died and dozens were wounded in the attack, but it's believed that Marques' actions prevented many more casualties.
Yet he believes his fight with the trio lasted no more than 90 seconds. The three set upon on him. He was stabbed in the head and experienced "instant darkness."
"He'd hit me so hard that my right eye went lights out," he said. "Straight away, I just went blind."
But Marques, who has since regained his sight, kept fighting.
"The second one and the third one I was basically fighting left to right, because I only had one eye, so I'm moving left to right, left to right."
He said he didn't realize how badly he was hurt. In a surreal moment, he described how all three attackers stood before him.
"The three of them were standing together almost shoulder-to-shoulder in like a little wolf pack. And they're staring at me," he said. "And I'm basically just like a cowboy in a Western movie. Waiting for the draw, waiting for them to make their move."
The men ran away.
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