A dad forgot his entire family after a stranger attacked him in front of his wife and small children on Christmas Eve
Ian Grimes was lucky to survive after suffering brain damage and needing a life-saving operation.
The 40-year-old was with his wife Bethan and their three children, heading towards their home in Ellesmere Port, when a man attacked him and he fell to the ground.
Ian's head hit the pavement, causing a brain bleed, fractured skull and a paralysed right vocal cord, the Mirror reports.
He was rushed to Walton Neurological Centre in Liverpool where doctors removed pieces of his skull to ease pressure on his brain.
When he woke from a coma he did not remember Bethan, their daughter Penny, five, or sons Casper, three, and Rufus, two.
After leaving hospital, Ian had to learn to talk and read again.
He now suffers from a range of health problems including hearing problems, dizziness, depression, anxiety and amnesia.
But Ian says he is determined to enjoy Christmas with his family this year.
He said: “I’m lucky to even be able to reflect on what happened at all. Christmas may never be the same, it will always have haunting memories.
"But it’s a reminder I am a survivor.”
He said wonderful people had rallied to help him after the attack and added: “Christmas is about remembering the positives of the year, being with the people you love and appreciating all you have.
"For me it’s such a lot.”
Dental nurse Bethan, 32, is now her husband's full-time carer as he was unable to return to work after the attack.
She said he is getting stronger and is positive about the future.
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He faces many medical appointments in the new year but until then the family, from Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, are taking a break to enjoy Christmas.
They have been supported by the Brain Charity, based in Liverpool, which helps people with brain injuries and neurological conditions receive legal advice and financial support.
And they are backing its Sixmas appeal, thebraincharity.org.uk/whats-on/sixmas-appeal, to support the one in six people in the UK with a neurological condition.
In October, Ian’s attacker Sean Jenkinson, 28, of Ellesmere Port, was jailed for two years after admitting GBH without intent.
