A teenager who suffered seven stab wounds during a late-night attack has told how he thought he was dying.

David Reynolds, 17, and best friend Meurisse Elysee were both seriously injured on Friday.

The former Abbey School pupils were rushed to King’s College Hospital in London after reportedly being stabbed with a screwdriver.

Stunned neighbours described there being as many as 50 teenagers in Kings Road, Herne Bay, at the time.

David, who also suffered a collapsed lung, had travelled to the town from Faversham to meet friends.

Speaking exclusively from his hospital bed, he said: “I didn’t realise at the time I was being stabbed.

“It felt like I was being punched in the back but my friend ran over to me and said I had been stabbed.

“I was in shock. I didn’t believe him but I walked a few metres and my legs gave way.

“I put my hand on my back and looked at my hand. It was covered in blood.”

David and his friends managed to flag down a passing ambulance and both he and 19-year-old Meurisse, from Faversham, were treated at the scene before being rushed to hospital.

David, who lives in Teynham, said: “I was lying in the back of the ambulance until we reached the hospital, but the whole way there the only thought I had was that I was dying and that my friend Meurisse was in the same position.”

Witnesses to the aftermath described the chaotic scene as emergency crews arrived at Kings Road.

One neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “At about 10.15pm there was a lot of noise so I took a peek out of the window.

“I was shocked to see there was a group of teenagers, at least 40 to 50, milling about everywhere.

“There were about seven police cars up and down the road and at least two ambulances.

“Police were still there and searching the area until about 3am.”

Both David and Meurisse needed stitches to their wounds, with medics also having to reinflate David’s collapsed lung.

Meurisse was discharged from hospital on Monday, with David returning home the next day.

David said: “We were looked after well by the nurses. We have had a lot of support from friends and family and have both kept positive and strong.”

Four men – an 18-year-old from Herne Bay, two 17-year-olds from Canterbury and Maidstone and another with no fixed address – were arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.

They have been bailed until January.