A hero police sergeant who was stabbed as he helped foil a suspected New Year's Eve terror attack said he had no idea what he was running towards. Sergeant Lee Valentine was one of three people injured in the knife attack at Manchester Victoria station at about 9pm on Monday. A 25-year-old man, who was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, has been detained under the Mental Health Act and a counter-terrorism investigation is under way. The man is now 'in a secure medical facility', police said today, as they warned it may be months before a decision is made on whether he can be charged. British Transport Police (BTP) Chief Constable Paul Crowther praised the bravery of Sgt Valentine and his colleagues and said they had averted a tragedy of a far greater scale. Armed police patrolled Manchester's Piccadilly Station this morning following New Year's Eve's knife attack at the city's Victoria station A terror suspect is pinned down following a New Year's Eve knife attack in Manchester A video taken on the night of the attack shows the man being put into a police van Sgt Valentine, who is recovering at home after suffering a stab wound to his shoulder, said: 'The past 48 hours have been overwhelming. 'My team and I are grateful to everyone who sent in messages of support, it really does mean the world to us. 'We had no idea what we were running towards when we heard the screams on New Year's Eve. 'When we saw the man wielding a knife, instinct took over and we were able to, in company with travel safe officers from Metrolink, successfully detain the male.' Mr Crowther said Sgt Valentine was 'very lucky'. 'He's got a nasty injury but he could have been much, much worse,' he said. 'He very much feels that it was a team effort and everybody was in this together. 'He got injured in the way he did but I think it's a mark of the man that he constantly wants to emphasise the efforts of all of his team in doing this and I think they did a brilliant job together.' Sgt Valentine had had been on patrol at the station, nearby the Manchester Arena, along with three colleagues when they confronted the attacker with Tasers and pepper spray. The attack happened not far from where a suicide bomber killed 22 at a concert last year Counter-terror police are working to establish whether anyone else was involved A couple, aged in their 50s, suffered multiple stab wounds, which are serious but not life-threatening, in the 'random' attack. The suspect was heard to shout 'Allah' and 'Long live the Caliphate' during the incident at the station. Mr Crowther said: 'My personal view is they have averted a tragedy of a far greater scale than was the case, as significant and bad as it was. 'What's clear to me having talked to them is firstly, how humble they are, secondly how concerned they are about the wellbeing of the two individuals that were assaulted and I think they probably underestimate precisely what they did and how brave they were.' In a statement, the family of the man detained under the Mental Health Act, who live in the Cheetham Hill area of the city, said: 'Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were seriously injured, their families and friends. 'We are also eternally grateful for the swift response from the emergency services and the comfort given to those affected by fellow Mancunians and citizens.' A man and a woman were pictured receiving treatment after the incident on Monday evening Police after the attack in Manchester's Victoria Station on New Year's Eve night Mr Crowther said the events of May 22 2017, when suicide bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people after he detonated a device at the Manchester Arena, were still fresh in the minds of BTP officers when the incident happened. He said: 'What they did on the night was just in the finest traditions of policing, everything we'd expect of people, selflessness, disregard for their own personal safety, wanting to get in there and protect people. We're all incredibly proud of them.' He said the officers were 'upbeat' and moved by the messages of support from members of the public. He added: 'The sergeant who was injured is clearly an experienced officer, the officers that he was working with are junior in service but they performed way beyond what we might expect someone of their service to do. 'I think it's real testament to their bravery and their disregard for their own personal safety to get stuck in and do what they did.' Mr Crowther said support would be put in place for the officers as they returned to work. Police remain at a house in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester, where the suspect lived Sam Clack, a BBC producer, was on a platform at Manchester Victoria waiting for a tram home when he witnessed the attack. The 38-year-old said: 'I just heard this most blood-curdling scream and looked down the platform. 'What it looked like was a guy in his 60s with a woman of similar age and another guy all dressed in black. 'It looked like they were having a fight but she was screaming in this blood-curdling way. I saw police in high-vis come towards him. 'He came towards me. I looked down and saw he had a kitchen knife with a black handle with a good 12-inch blade. It was just fear, pure fear.' Mr Clack said police used a Taser and pepper spray before 'six or seven' officers jumped on the man and held him down. He said he heard the suspect saying: 'As long as you keep bombing other countries this sort of s*** is going to keep happening.' Mr Clack said it looked like both the man in his 60s and the woman with him had been stabbed, but both were conscious and were walked to a waiting ambulance. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility