Assault left Robbie’s life in tatters
is able to speak candidly about both the mental and physical scars his split-second decision to walk home alone caused him and to urge others to always take precautions.
On the night of the attack Robbie had been out in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and was making his way home when he was set upon.
His attacker, David Heggie, 23, punched him while a second man kicked him in the head.
He was taken to the town’s Victoria Hospital before being transferred to Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital for emergency brain surgery after blood clotting was discovered.
Robbie added: “The only thing I remember of that night is about half an hour in the nightclub then waking up in the Western.
“It was
all
so
scary
not knowing what had happened. I was sure I could bounce back quickly and get on with my life. I was very wrong.”
Robbie had two spells working with Amazon in Dunfermline and started with Quick Air, an air conditioning company in Livingston with whom he had a family connection.
He added: “It’s difficult to explain how the PTSD manifests itself, you don’t really even notice that it’s there. And that’s part of the problem. It took me a long time to recognise what it was and only then have I been able to deal with it.
“I’d fly off the handle and lash out, normally at those closest to me, for no real reason. I’d then sleep for sometimes as much as 12 hours and then have no memory of it.
“To make matters worse I turned to alcohol to dull the anxiety.
“I went through about £18,000 of criminal compensation in a month. That only made things worse.”
Robbie now lives with his fiancee Krystal, 24, in Glenrothes.
Day by day the pair are working together to rebuild his life and a future for themselves.
He added: “It’s been four tough years. But there’s hope now.”