London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Liverpool hospital attack cab driver: ‘It’s a miracle I’m alive’

Liverpool hospital attack cab driver: ‘It’s a miracle I’m alive’

David Perry and wife Rachel issue statement expressing relief ‘no one was else was injured’

The taxi driver who survived the Liverpool terror attack said it is a “miracle that I’m alive” and expressed his relief “no one else was injured in such an evil act”.

David Perry was injured when he drove a passenger to Liverpool Women’s hospital on 14 November and a bomb was detonated shortly before 11am, engulfing the car in flames.

He managed to flee the car but the attacker, 32-year-old Emad al-Swealmeen, was killed in the blast – by an explosive device that police suspect was homemade and packed with ball bearings.

Perry, in a statement issued to police with his wife, Rachel, said: “I feel like it’s a miracle that I’m alive and so thankful that no one else was injured in such an evil act.”

He said it will take time to “come to terms with what’s happened” and focus on his mental and physical recovery. Perry urged the public to “please be kind, be vigilant and stay safe”.

It comes as an open letter from police and local political figures praised the public for not allowing the blast to “create discord, distrust and fear in our communities”, affirming Liverpool’s “proud heritage as a multicultural city”.

The letter praised people for uniting “in the face of adversity” and was published on behalf of Merseyside police chief constable, Serena Kennedy, the mayor of Liverpool, Joanne Anderson, Merseyside police and crime commissioner, Emily Spurrell, and the metro mayor, Steve Rotheram.

“The ultimate goal of terrorism is to create discord, distrust and fear in our communities, and whilst we know some people may be anxious and concerned we have seen people across Liverpool standing shoulder to shoulder,” the letter said.

“And that’s because Liverpool, which has a proud heritage as a multicultural city, and the wider Merseyside region always pull together at times like this and the pride of all our communities is there for all to see.”

The letter’s comments came after some politicians were accused of exploiting the attack for political gain.



Perry and his wife said they were “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of support and good wishes from the public, police, emergency responders and staff at Liverpool Women’s hospital and Aintree hospital. Perry has been discharged after medical treatment.

The statement came one week after the attack, following which the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre raised the UK’s terror threat level from substantial to severe, meaning another attack is judged “highly likely”.

Police are investigating potential motives behind the bombing, such as connections to Remembrance Sunday and a nearby church service of about 1,200 people at Liverpool Cathedral.

Security services are also assessing whether the hospital was the intended target. Four men arrested under terrorism laws in the Kensington area of Liverpool have since been released from custody after interviews.

Swealmeen, born in Iraq, experienced mental health problems in the past. According to Elizabeth and Malcolm Hitchcott, a Christian couple in Liverpool who Swealmeen lived with for eight months, he had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act for six months.

He claimed asylum in the UK in 2014 but was rejected. Swealmeen converted to Christianity from Islam in 2017.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×