Update on dad 'missing third of skull' after Benidorm 'attack'

A dad knocked unconscious outside a Benidorm nightclub is missing "a third of his skull" but has uttered his first words since the sickening attack. Andrew Frazer, 43, was plunged into a coma after suffering a severe head injury outside a nightclub in the popular tourist resort.

The step-dad of two, from St Helens, had travelled to Benidorm on November 13 to celebrate his brother Ian's birthday. But by 1am on November 14, not even 24 hours after touching down, Andrew was knocked unconscious in the street and rushed to hospital with a head injury.

Sister-in-law Claire Howard previously told the ECHO his wound was stapled and he was sent back to his hotel without a CT scan because he didn't have travel insurance. But his condition worsened the following day and he was taken to another hospital, where a scan revealed a serious bleed on the brain. He underwent an emergency craniotomy, a surgical procedure removing part of the skull to access the brain, and was placed in an induced coma.

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A fundraiser set up to fund Andrew's journey back to the UK raised tens of thousands of pounds in a matter of days. But his injury was deemed "too severe" to fly and instead he made a gruelling 27-hour journey back to Merseyside in a private ambulance supported by his fiancée Carrie.

Speaking to the ECHO today, Saturday, November 30 Claire said that when he was wheeled to the ambulance before beginning the marathon journey back to the UK, Andrew had a "massive seizure". She said: "His eyes went and he was shaking. Carrie thought he was dead so she had to deal with that."

Claire said one of the paramedics who ferried them back to the UK claimed the seizure was caused by a compression device put on him by the hospital. Claire told the ECHO Andrew is missing a third of his skull following the craniotomy, with the missing fragments still in Spain. Full body scans done by the NHS since Andrew has returned to Merseyside have revealed he also has four broken bones in his foot.

Claire said: "The NHS has been fantastic. Since he's been back he's had everything done. When I saw him yesterday he was talking, not in big sentences, and was confused. He said he doesn't remember anything about Spain. He doesn't remember being in the hospital there."

She said he is in Whiston Hospital and will be visited once every two weeks by a neurosurgeon from the Walton Centre. Claire said the family has been told it's too dangerous to move him again at the moment. She continued: "He's not got his personality back, but you can see him rolling his eyes at things.

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"He told Carrie that he wanted to go home but doesn't remember where home is. She has been at the hospital with him. She is quite exhausted but she is doing so well. I'm going to the hospital tomorrow and then I will take her home and get her Christmas tree out of the attic. It's important there's some normality, especially for the twins."

She previously told the ECHO that Andrew, who works at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, came out of his coma towards the end of last week - but faces a long and difficult recovery. She said: "He is conscious but he'll need an assessment to find out the level of his injury and how long his recovery is going to be. It's a massive relief that he's back in the UK and he's going to get the treatment he needs."

Claire, who thanked the people of Merseyside for their kind words and donations, said Andrew's "taking the first steps in his recovery", but added the family has been told it will take 18 months to two years. She said: "We haven't got a clue when he will be able to go home. He is getting frustrated, but from not being able to speak in Spain to just speaking a few words now is amazing."

You can donate to the fundraiser and follow updates on Andrew's recovery here.