AN ASSAULT victim, who was so badly injured he was not expected to survive has defied the odds to walk again.

Craig Kaye, who was 42 yesterday, suffered permanent brain damage when he hit his head on the ground, fracturing his skull, in a one-punch attack.

The assault happened two years ago this week, in Hollybank Road, Great Horton, as Mr Kaye walked home from a party.

His 16-year-old attacker was given a two-year youth rehabilitation order after admitting grievous bodily harm.

Mr Kaye was in hospital for nine months and since then has undergone intensive rehabilitation in a bid to walk, talk and eat on his own.

He is living at a rehabilitation care centre in Castleford, and will need one-to-one care for the rest of his life.

But Mr Kaye’s devoted mother, Jean, said her son is now able to walk unaided along corridors and up stairs at the centre.

Mrs Kaye, 67, of Holme Wood, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic. He walks properly but he’s a bit awkward, like a toddler. His carers are with him, but nobody holds him. He can lift his feet over obstacles. It’s absolutely brilliant.”

Mrs Kaye, who visits her son several times a week, said she could now understand 80 per cent of what he said, as his speech has improved.

“I can have more conversations with him and I give him the phone and he can talk to his sister.

“He showers and dresses himself, in his own time, and has nearly got to tying his shoelaces. He makes his breakfast two days a week and he made me a cup of coffee for the first time last week.”

She said her son was recently taken to Bradford, where he joined members of his family at a play centre.

“He stayed for two hours. Everybody wanted to have their photo taken with him. It was a wonderful occasion. His face was a picture.”

The centre put on a birthday party for him yesterday, attended by his family, with entertainment provided by his nephew, who performs as a tribute act.

But Mrs Kaye said her son still had a long way to go. “We have done two years. I had to believe he would get this far because it kept me going. I like to take a day at a time. When they told me he should be dead and that he would never be able to do anything, I was devastated. But you never know what we might be saying in 12 months.”