Family aim to bring Scott home a year after assault left him in coma
AYEAR after a rugby player suffered horrific injuries that left him in a coma, the family of Scott Bessant are still coming to terms with the fact he can’t communicate with them.
Ex-Wales Dragonhearts full-back Mr Bessant was found seriously hurt near a bridge in the early hours of Sunday, August 13, last year, aged 34.
Mr Bessant, from Talywain, Pontypool, was drinking in the Little Crown pub on the night before he was found by a passerby near a bridge in Pentwyn Lane in Abersychan. It is unknown what happened to him.
Dad-of-two Mr Bessant was placed in critical care and remained in a coma for several months.
His family said he suffered multiple fractures to his skull, a fractured neck, broken ribs on his entire right side, a fractured pelvis, a broken collarbone or anything, so there’s not a lot of change.”
Now the family hope moving him home in the future might help.
“We’re looking to move him out of Rockwood Hospital closer to home,” said Neil. “The first thing is move him from Rockwood to a hospital closer to home somewhere in the Pontypool area. Once he’s closer to home we can look at adapting the house so he can be brought home. He can then look at things and that might trigger something. It’s not just for his recovery but for the piece of mind. His mum and dad have been every day to see him for a year. They travel two hours every day to see their son. Every day is hard and as it goes on we’re just praying that we see and improvement.”
The family needs to raise about £26,000 for a specialist vehicle.
“The plan is we need to get him out of hospital but he’s 6ft 2in so he needs a specially-adapted vehicle,” said Neil.
“When you look at one even second-hand they cost around £26,000. But that would allow him to be brought home.”
On Saturday, a group of his family and friends – dubbed Scott’s Angels – took part in the three peaks challenge, starting at Bailey Park in Abergavenny.
“Twenty of us took 16 hours and covered 24 miles,” Neil said. “We’ve raised £10,000 but we’ve still got final donations coming in so we’re well on the way.”
The funds raised will go towards the specialist vehicle to allow Mr Bessant to be brought back to a home environment.
■ To donate to the fund, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/scottsangels