POLICE officers who saved the life of a woman stabbed 150 times have been praised for their heroic actions.

PC Alison Deller and PC Daniel Willard had been called out to another incident when a bus driver flagged them down in Lewes Road, Brighton, after discovering a severely injured woman.

They stepped on board to discover 19-year-old Shannon Reynolds lying in a pool of blood, with stab wounds all over her body and moments away from her final breath.

Instinctively the response officers found the worst cuts on her neck to stem the bleeding with their hands and kept her relaxed as she struggled to breath until paramedics arrived.

PC Deller said: “We just knew this woman was dying and we needed to try and save her.

“Somehow she had dragged herself from her house half-a-mile away down the road to bang on the back of a bus to get help, I don’t know how she had managed to stay alive.”

PC Willard said: “She was scared and she kept saying ‘I’m going to die’ and was slipping in and out of consciousness. We kept her calm by talking to her about her young son who she kept mentioning.

“We weren’t thinking at that point about what had led to the incident or if we needed to look for a suspect - because of the amount of blood she lost we thought she was not going to live.”

Miraculously she survived the attack in March 2015 and the culprit, her boyfriend Jamiv Usman, 32, of Meadowview, Brighton, was jailed for 20 years last year.

Both officers were commended for their courageous actions the Brighton and Hove divisional police awards yesterday.

PC Willard, 27, of Southwick, who joined Sussex Police seven-and-a-half-years ago, said: “I didn’t realise until I got back to the squad room that I was covered in blood.

“You do think about it afterwards. We came in early the next day to make sure we could work together again and make calls, and went to the hospital to visit her and check she was ok.”

PC Deller, 31, of Lancing, who has been in post for eight-and-a-half-years, added: “It’s horrible, especially to put yourself in their shoes and think about it. But it is just an amazing feeling to know that she survived.”

The city’s chief superintendent Lisa Bell, who hosted the event, said the pair showed complete professionalism under “extreme circumstances”.

The pair were among 19 officers, staff and members of the public celebrated at the ceremony in John Street police station.

Mrs Bell told the award winners: “It's important in the context of 24 hour emergency services who are simply expected to protect the public to take a moment to reflect on outstanding actions of bravery.

"You deserve to be proud of yourselves. So much of what you do is unseen and so much of what you do is disguised by modesty.” 

Brighton and Hove mayor Pete West told guests he was "humbled" and "impressed" at the bravery demonstrated by those receiving awards.

He presented the accolades with East Sussex Michael Foster, who told the officers, staff and members of the public commended: "I know people say it's the police, it's their job, and it is. But nonetheless it is inspiring to hear how you have gone beyond the call of duty."

ATTACKED FOR REFUSING TO GET BOYFRIEND DRINK OF WATER

JAMIV Usman flew into a frenzied rage after his girlfriend refused his demand for a drink of water.

His attack was so ferocious the eight-inch knife snapped when he stabbed Shannon Reynolds 150 times in front of her two-year-old at their Meadowview home in Brighton.

The 19-year-old survived by playing dead but then, realising she needed urgent treating to live, had to leave her son in the house and drag herself half-a-mile to get help.

She banged on the back of an empty bus in Lewes Road to attract attention just after midnight on March 28, 2015.

By that time she had lost a lot of blood and was having trouble breathing because both her lungs were punctured. The bus driver drove her to the nearby depot, flagged down the passing police officers and paramedics were called to the scene.

Her son was cared for by neighbours and the knife used in the attack was found dumped in a hedge near the home.

Usman was arrested for attempted murder later that day after being spotted in Coombe Road and jailed in September 2016 for 20 years.

Ms Reynolds miraculously survived after having 500 stitches at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

Detective inspector Andy Wolstenholme said: "This was an horrific unprovoked attack on the victim who had to fight for her life in front of her child who was just two. It is a miracle she survived. She is an inspiration."