London, Aug.19 : An emotional former England football captain, David Beckham, has revealed how a brother of one of his childhood friends was left paralysed after a knife attack.

He said that the incident took place when he was 13, and added that the lad in question was on the verge of signing professional forms with Leyton Orient.

Beckham was speaking at a Government campaign backed by the FA to promote the fight against knife crime.

"He was walking down the street one afternoon and he saw a fight break out over the other side of the road. He went over to help and ended up getting stabbed in the back and was paralysed," The Sun quoted him, as saying.

The dad of three said the scourge of street stabbings had been going on for too long and needed to be highlighted as a blight on society.

This year in London alone, 23 teens have died in violent incidents, and most of them were victims of knife stabbings.

ANI