Donoughmore man ‘lucky to be alive’ after attack
‘THE BACK OF MY HEAD IS LIKE A MAP WITH 30 STAPLES HOLDING IT TOGETHER’
GARDAI in Cork city have again appealed for information in relation to a brutal assault on a Donoughmore man that left him with potentially life-threatening, multiple injuries including a bleed to his brain.
Paul Healy, an amateur mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, was attacked in Blackpool by a gang armed with iron bars, bottles and knives.
The 27-year-old was walking through the Orchard Court area of Blackpool when the horrific incident took place just before midnight on Saturday, March 25.
Mr Healy told The Corkman that he was left fighting for his life following the vicious attack during which he suffered breaks to his jaw, nose and eye sockets, a fracture to his skull and a severe brain bleed.
He was rushed to the Cork University Hospital (CUH) for treatment including 30 staples to his head and 11 stitches to his face.
Our pictures, while taken a number of days after the attack, still graphically show the extent of Mr Healy’s injuries.
“I was hit with an iron bar, glass bottles and kicked about the body and head, which caused the bleed on the brain,” said Mr Healy.
He was subsequently released from hospital the following Tuesday after the bleeding on his brain had stopped. However, he is currently on 19 different tablets and is awaiting surgery to rewire the left side of his jaw.
“I’m in a lot of pain, but the medication is helping,” said Mr Healy.
Mr Healy had been socialising with friends in the city and was making his way to an ATM to withdraw money for a taxi home when he was attacked by the gang of up to five men.
Earlier, speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Healy had told Red FM’s Neil Prendeville Show he was “lucky to be alive.”
“As an MMA fighter myself, I tried to fight one of them off but another one smashed a bottle over my head and I don’t remember the rest. I was stabbed and badly beaten,” he said.
Mr Healy said he had no recollection of any verbal of physical confrontation with his attackers prior to the incident.
“They came up from behind me. I tried to defend myself, but they kept smashing my head with bottles. It wasn’t just a normal beating. You don’t do that to a human being. The back of my head is like a map, with 30 staples holding it together,” he said.
“I just want anyone who knows anything to come forward to the guards or locals so that they (his attackers) can be arrested and charged. I am a good young fella and these people who done this need to be stopped. I don’t know who attacked me or why, but they tried to kill me. I am lucky to be alive.”
Gardai at Mayfield say they are investigating the incident and are examining CCTV footage shot in the area as part of their investigation.
Anyone with information about the attack is asked to contact Mayfield Garda Station on 021 455 8510.