‘SCOTT STILL CAN’T WALK OR TALK... BUT HE’S OUT OF HIS COMA’
Fundraising campaign to take dad for trips out of hospital to help his recovery from serious injuries
APOPULAR former rugby league player found with life-changing injuries almost a year ago is now awake.
Ex-Wales Dragon hearts full-back Scott Bessant, 34, was found seriously hurt near a bridge in the early hours of Sunday, August 13, last year.
Mr Bessant was placed in critical care and remained in a coma for several months.
His family said Mr Bessant suffered multiple fractures to his skull, a fractured neck, broken ribs on his entire right side, a fractured pelvis, and they also said that since then he has had multiple strokes.
Now 35, Mr Bessant is awake and his condition has “improved”.
Mr Bessant’s brother-in-law, Neil Chere, 48, said: “We are in a position now where we want to be able to take him out of the hospital. At the moment he is just restricted to the hospital grounds.
“We’re hoping that different surroundings and places that he knows might help with his recovery.
“Scott was in a total coma but he’s now awake.
“He still can’t walk and talk, and he may not be able to recognise us, but it is an improvement.”
Mr Chere said doctors are now working with Mr Bessant to see if he is able to communicate.
They have been showing Mr Bessant images and video, and even throwing a balloon at him, to see if he reacts to any stimuli.
Mr Chere said: “There is a buzzer he can press if he does but we have not seen much response with that.
“We have been talking with the doctors and this getting him out and showing him places he might recognise could help.”
Mr Bessant, from Talywain, Pontypool, was drinking in the Little Crown pub on the night before he was found by a passer-by near a bridge in Pentwyn Lane in Abersychan.
According to those with him, he was in a “happy, joyful mood” and was dancing and left after the pub closed.
Mr Chere said: “We think he walked up the old line [a disused railway line] but, because nobody has been able to confirm that, we’re not sure.
“That was on his way home. It could take you about an hour to get to where he was.
“From the time he left the pub until 5am we don’t know where he was.
“All we know is that at 5am a member of the public who was going to work found him.”
Mr Chere said Mr Bessant came out of his coma around three months ago and his eyes were now open.
Mr Chere said: “Obviously when it first happened it was very overwhelming. For us as a family it helped bring us all together but it’s still a massive road we need to go down.”
In 2009, amateur player Mr Bessant – then the top scorer for Newport Titans and having appeared twice for Wales A – was invited to train with Super League side Celtic Crusaders and hoped to turn professional.
But dad-of-two Mr Bessant, who had scored on his international debut against Scotland the previous year, was unable to attend training after contracting salmonella.
Mr Chere said: “He’s a doting dad. The most loving, caring person you could know. He’s a gentle giant.
“He’s the sort of person, and I know it sounds old-fashioned, but if there was an old lady crossing the road he’d go and help them.
“And, whatever happened, nobody deserves what he’s going through. And it’s not just that, it’s the knockon effect on the family.”
The family believes the community’s continued support comes from Mr Bessant’s popularity.
Mr Chere said: “You have got to remember that Scott was a very loved person.
“Then you look at his sporting career.
“We have had Welsh players contacting us about what happened. “He was 100% a popular guy. “And I think that when people read his story from the beginning they find it heart-breaking.”
A crowd-funder has been created to help Mr Bessant’s family buy a specialist vehicle to help him visit home and familiar places.
A suitable vehicle would cost several thousand pounds and “Scott’s Angels” are helping raise £3,000 towards it.
Mr Chere said the family thanked the group for their support and said it was further evidence of Mr Bessant’s popu- larity. In February Mr Bessant’s family said they felt let down by Gwent Police and the force’s handling of the case.
They lodged several complaints, and believe police decided hours after Mr Bessant was found that the location was not a crime scene.
However, they believe he was attacked, due to the injuries he sustained.
An appeal to the Independent Office for Police Conduct was concluded in April.
We asked Gwent Police to provide an update on the case but the force had not responded at the time of publication.