A man who was punched so hard that half of his skull had to be removed is now terrified and must wear a helmet outside.
Braden Stromberg, 27, suffered a brain bleed and was placed in an induced coma after an unprovoked assault on May 2, last year.
Kyle Stephenson brutally attacked him from behind as he walked to the shops with his girlfriend in Bolsover, Derbyshire.
Braden was punched in the face before smashing his head on the side of the road.
The groundskeeper was rushed to the hospital, where doctors fought for his life and had to remove the right side of his skull during a three-hour operation.
Braden was in critical condition and was placed in an induced coma for 15 days before making an incredible recovery that astounded doctors.
But he now lives in fear that even a minor bump to the head will kill him, and he must wear a helmet whenever he leaves the house to protect one side of his exposed head.
He is awaiting surgery to fuse a titanium plate to his head so that he can resume his normal life.
“Every doctor I’ve spoken to has said how lucky I am not to have woken up from the coma paralyzed or in a vegetative state,” Braden, from Mansfield, said.
“They’re speechless. There could be an inch of spinal fluid where my skull was removed, leaving only my brain exposed.
“It could be fatal if I knocked this down.”
Braden’s next surgery is scheduled for March at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital.
However, he is still reeling from the brutal attack and is now unemployed, dealing with the enormous trauma he endured.
“I can talk and move around, but the attack has changed my life mentally, physically, and emotionally,” he said.
“I now have poor dexterity in my left eye and hand. I can’t close my right eye while keeping my left eye open, and I can’t use my left hand to grip things.”
Braden has no recollection of the incident, but Stephenson is said to have followed him and his girlfriend through an alleyway before launching his cowardly attack.
Stephenson, 32, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to ten and a half months in prison on February 6 at Derby Crown Court.
»A 27years old man lives in fear after losing half of his skull in a brutal attack last year«