"IF we were the last people to experience heartache like this then that would be good."

Those are the selfless words of the parents of a Hampshire care worker fatally stabbed as she carried out a routine visit to the home of a client.

Margaret and Terence Noakes spoke out about the devastation of losing Sarah Merritt as they joined the Daily Echo campaign to rid the streets of knives.

The couple said the entire family of Sarah, who would have been 40 next month, were fully behind the stand against knife crime after being cruelly robbed of a precious daughter, wife and mother.

Found dead Sarah was one of two women found dead at a house in Townhill Park on the afternoon of March 15. Police made the discovery after Sarah's concerned husband Peter raised the alarm when she failed to turn up for a family dental appointment.

Just weeks before, 15-year-old Dele Little died from stab wounds after an incident in Totton and two weeks after Sarah's death, teenager Lewis Singleton died from knife wounds inflicted as he walked home along Obelisk Road after a night out. The campaign, launched just days after the 18-year-old's death, has received the support of MPs, cross-party politicians in Southampton and the family and friends of Dele and Lewis.

Speaking for the first time about Sarah's death from their Warsash home, Mrs Noakes said: "What happened to Sarah has totally transformed our family because she was always at the centre of everything. We don't want this to happen to another family.

"In the beginning when we first became aware of what had happened we didn't believe it and sometimes we still don't. You still think Sarah is going to walk through the door at any minute."

Sarah's stepdad Terence added: "All of a sudden you realise you're just getting on, living your life even though what's happened is always there with you. Then it will jump right out and the reality is a shock when you realise yes, she is gone'. It's so very hard to come to terms with."

The couple said they had become increasingly concerned about levels of knife crime in Hampshire, as well as the rest of the country. "All these people carrying knives and this type of crime shows there is a serious breakdown in modern day life," said the couple.

"The average person will read or watch the news and see it is happening more and more.

"Many, like us, will feel it didn't used to happen like this years ago."

Impact Speaking about the impact of their daughter's death on their close family, Mr and Mrs Noakes said: "Sarah's death has really hit us hard. Despite what people say, it's not getting easier with time - if anything it gets harder.

"We miss her so much. It's like living in a little bubble and every now and then that bubble is burst and you realise that you are never going to see her again."

Lending their support to the campaign, the couple said: "We wholeheartedly support this as a family. We wouldn't want anybody to go through what we have been through.

"If we were the last people to experience heartache like this then that would be good."