Portland train attack victim's last words: 'Tell everyone on this train I love them'

One of the men stabbed to death in the Oregon train attack asked a fellow passenger to “tell everyone on this train I love them” as he lay dying, it has been revealed.

Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, and Rick Best, 53, had their throats slit by a man after they intervened to stop him hurling racist abuse at two teenage girls on a Metro Area Express (MAX) service in Portland on 26 May.

Mr Namkai-Meche and Mr Best tried to form a barrier between the attacker and the girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab. A third victim, Micah David-Cole Fletcher, remains in hospital receiving treatment for stab wounds.

Jeremy Joseph Christian, a 35-year-old convicted felon with a history of posting anti-Muslim messages on social media, has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder and is due to appear in court today.

Rachel Macy, another passenger, said she attempted to stem the flow of blood from Mr Namkai-Meche’s wounds and stayed by his side until he was carried away to hospital.

The victims, who Ms Macy called “angels walking among us”, intervened to stop the attacker “scaring” other passengers with his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

She said Mr Namkai-Meche may have been trying to film the attacker’s slurs on his phone before he was stabbed, and described the attack as being “like a nightmare”.

“He held his neck and said, ‘I’m going to die’”, she told The Oregonian. “I looked at him and said ‘We can handle this, lay down’.

"I just kept telling him, 'You're not alone. We're here. What you did was total kindness. You're such a beautiful man. I'm sorry the world is so cruel.’''

She recalled asking Mr Namkai-Meche to pray with her, after which “he just closed his eyes and tried to keep breathing”.

The train cleared quickly when it reached the platform but Macy remained in the carriage until police and emergency medics arrived, after which Mr Best was pronounced dead at the scene.

As he was being carried away on a stretcher, Ms Macy remembered Mr Namkai-Meche saying: "Tell everyone on this train I love them.''

Ms Macy met the victim’s mother and father at a vigil held by the train stop the following night, where they thanked her for being "a mamma to our boy in that moment”.

"I just kept thinking this is someone's child,” she added. “This man was so reckless and filled with hate. None of it makes sense. That's what's so sad."

Three fundraising initiatives, one called Muslims Unite for Portland Heroes and two others to fund hospital and funeral bills, jointly raised over $1,300,000 (£1,000,000) by Tuesday morning.

One of the teenage girls who was abused on the train, Destinee Mangum, later thanked the victims for coming to her aid. “They lost their lives because of me and my friend and the way we look,” she said.

President Donald Trump responded to the incident on Monday, tweeting that the attacks were “unacceptable” and praising the victims for “standing up to hate and intolerance”.