41-Year-Old Man In Coma After Vicious Assault, Half Of Skull Removed

A 41-year-old who was viciously attacked last year in North Yorkshire lost half his skull and is currently placed in an induced coma.

He was identified as Jamie Kelly who was the victim of a horrific single punch that led to him a bleed on the brain. He is likely to need the help of a specialist care for the rest of his life.

Surgeons had to remove half of Kelly’s skull after they found swelling in his brain. This was after he suffered from severe tremors due to brain damage.

Kelly has been showing signs of improvement. However, the injury is so severe that he is unlikely to make a full recovery.

Arrested in connection with the vicious assault was David Johnson. He was sentenced to two years in jail for the County Durham man.

Johnson reportedly punched Kelly in the head while both were in a pedestrian crossing in Scarborough on Sept. 16, 2021. The 32-year-old pleaded guilty to the charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

The parents of Kelly spoke about the sad plight of their son during the hearing of the case.

"This sort of thing is what you hear about happening to other people, which is heartbreaking in itself, but never in a million years do you think it would happen to your family, especially your child,” Brenda Kelly said. "A man who has to drink from a non-spill sippy cup, who needs help eating because of tremors wrack his entire body. He can't go to the toilet or shower himself."

The mother added that her son would need to learn to walk again no thanks to Johnson’s punch – with the obvious intention of hurting Jamie.

Brenda was unable to immediately visit her son due to COVID last year. That was a harrowing experience considering her son could have died at any time.

“What we do know is that Jamie will have to live with this for the rest of his life, as will we," Michael Kelly, father of Jaime, said.