School sweethearts dealt a ‘life sentence’

Ernest Moyo, 27, who is known as Joe, was stabbed three times on August, 2012, after an altercation at a party in Pavilion Road. While recovering in intensive care, he was diagnosed with septicaemia, which forced doctors to amputate his arms and legs. Two men were found guilty at Hove Crown Court this month of GBH with intent and will be sentenced with two others in April. Joe, of Radnor Road, Goring, said: “When I heard the news that they had been found guilty I felt light-headed and emotional, it was that much of a big deal to me. “I know I am lucky to be alive but to lose all four limbs is probably one of the worst things that can happen.” Joe has only fragmented memory of the incident and his injuries were so bad that at first he thought he had been in a car accident. “I did not know why I was in hospital at first and I did not get told what had happened until a few weeks afterwards,” he said. “That must have been very hard for my family but even now I can only remember tiny details and it is like I am hearing about someone else. “This whole thing has been a major whirlwind.” Joe describes the moment he learned about the amputations as a ‘huge shock’. “It was so hard, I was crying and thinking this is not happening to me although I was trying to be positive,” he said. “When you have grown up with both arms and both legs, to find out you have lost them is crazy. “The most basic thing going through my mind was that I did not want to spend the rest of my life sat in a wheelchair, no matter what had happened or what was going to happen. It was very important to me because I desperately wanted to be able to walk again.” Joe, who has four prosthetic limbs, and is cared for by his fiancée, Amy Dunne, admits that life is now ‘very different to what it would have been’. He said: “Sometimes I think has this really happened to me and there have been moments where I have been very down but Amy is brilliant and really understands me.” Amy, 23, met Joe eight years ago while they were pupils at Worthing High School and works part-time as a health care assistant at the Queen Alexandra Hospital Home. She said: “I felt numb and completely shocked when I heard Joe had been stabbed but was not aware of how serious it was until I saw him in intensive care. “We were hoping and praying but did not know if Joe was going to survive or not. Every time I went home, I thought I was going to get a phone call with bad news. “I just burst out crying when I found out about the amputations, I did not know what to do, my whole life had just gone although they made the decision to save his life. “I kept thinking that Joe had not changed in himself, he has not got limbs but I still love him whatever. “He was very determined to walk from the outset and that really helped. “Every day since has been very hard but we are looking to the future, getting married and maybe starting a family. “I am very pleased that justice has been done, but it is Joe that has got the life sentence.”