France stabbing: ‘Backpack hero’ recalls how knifeman ‘tried to attack me’

The student who attempted to stop a knifeman’s attack on children at a playpark in France - earning him the nickname “backpack hero” - has recalled how the incident unfolded.

Four children – aged between 22 months and three years old – were badly injured in Thursday’s attack at a lakeside park in the alpine city of Annecy.

Two adults were also injured.

A man named only as Henri, who is a 24-year-old philosophy student, came face-to-face with the attacker while making a months-long walking pilgrimage of France’s cathedrals.

“I’ll be honest my brain completely switched off, it was impossible to leave defenceless human beings being attacked like this by someone,” he said of his actions.

“He tried to attack me as well. At some point, our eyes locked and I could feel he wasn’t someone in a normal state.”