A Scottish dad says his teen son could have died, after a Zante bouncer allegedly knocked him 'out cold'.
Conor King, 18, lay unconscious for around 15 minutes before being taken to a Greek hospital on June 15. The teen suffered a subdural haematoma and a subsequent seizure after hitting his head on the concrete floor, reports the Daily Record.
The hotel porter, from Peebles, was on his final night of a lads holiday when he was asked to leave the Rescue Club after sitting on a friends shoulders. His horrified pals watched on as Conor - who they say wasn’t resisting - was floored by a punch from a member of security staff after being frog-marched to the front door area.
Dad-of-three Stephen and brother Calum, 20, raced to be by Conor's bedside and say it’s only by ‘luck’ that his son wasn’t left brain-damaged or killed. The 43-year-old said: “We’re fully aware of how easily this could have gone an entirely different way. It’s only by sheer luck that this bouncer isn’t facing a murder charge.
“After he committed that assault, what happened to Conor was completely outwith his control. The fact that Conor didn’t die or suffer permanent brain damage is purely down to luck.
“It doesn’t take away from the seriousness of what he did. His friend’s say he was around 6ft 3 and looked like a bodybuilder. Conor is only 5ft 9 and slim. For a man that size to do that to an 18-year-old boy is disgusting and completely unnecessary.
“Even if Conor had been resisting, which he and his friends are adamant he wasn’t, surely there must have been another way to handle this rather than sucker-punching him.”
Conor was rushed to the Zakynthos General Hospital for urgent brain scans while his dad jumped on the first available flight from Scotland. But the anxious parent claims the ordeal was made worse by the treatment his son received from medical staff, who allegedly ignored him for hours at a time.
Stephen explained: “I had been speaking to the embassy who warned me that the hospital wasn’t going to be like what we have in Scotland. But it was horrific. At one stage, Conor asked a nurse for a drink of water but was told no.
“He’d have to go downstairs and buy it. I had to help another patient go to the bathroom after he had been shouting for help for 30 minutes. When he first got to the hospital, he suffered a seizure and fell out of bed.
“His friends had to lift him back into it because none of the staff came to help. After he had three scans, which showed the haematoma was getting smaller, I spoke to the doctor who said he wanted to keep him in for another night of observation.
“After speaking to my wife, who is a nurse, we decided to get him out of the hospital on Saturday night because we knew he was stable. My priority was to get him home to Scotland to get proper medical treatment at our local hospital.
“I asked for a copy of his medical records but the doctor refused. I also asked them to contact the police several times so we could report the assault but they also refused.”
Conor was able to fly home with his dad and brother on Sunday before being checked over at a local hospital the following day. He has now been put on seizure medication, signed off work for four weeks and is unable to drive for the next six months.
Rescue Club and Zakynthos General Hospital have not responded to requests for comment from the Daily Record.
