Andrew Frazer had to have part of his skull removed after the incident
A man has been arrested after a dad was critically injured in an alleged attack outside a nightclub in Benidorm. Andrew Frazer, 43, had travelled over from his home in St Helens to Benidorm to celebrate his brother Ian’s birthday on November 13.
But by 1am on November 14, not even 24 hours after touching down, Andrew was allegedly punched and knocked unconscious in the street, before being rushed to hospital with a head injury.
Sister-in-law Claire Howard previously told the ECHO his wound was stapled and he was sent back to his hotel without a CT scan because he didn’t have travel insurance. His condition worsened the following day and he was taken to another hospital, where a scan revealed a serious bleed on the brain.
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The dad-of-two, who works at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, had to have part of his skull cut away to relieve swelling on the brain and he was placed in an induced coma. Claire said Andrew is now back in Merseyside after a gruelling 27-hour journey in the back of a private ambulance because his injuries were too severe for a medical flight.
A 42-year-old man from Romania has since been arrested on suspicion of wounding in connection with the incident. He was released on bail pending an ongoing criminal probe after appearing before a judge in a behind-closed-doors court hearing where he denied being the person who assaulted Mr Frazer.
Claire told the ECHO Andrew is missing a third of his skull following surgery. Full body scans done by the NHS since Andrew has returned to Merseyside have revealed he also has four broken bones in his foot.
Claire said: “The NHS has been fantastic. Since he’s been back he’s had everything done. When I saw him yesterday he was talking, not in big sentences, and was confused. He said he doesn’t remember anything about Spain. He doesn’t remember being in the hospital there.”
She said he is in Whiston Hospital and will be visited once every two weeks by a neurosurgeon from the Walton Centre. Claire said the family has been told it’s too dangerous to move him again at the moment. She continued: “He’s not got his personality back, but you can see him rolling his eyes at things.
“He told Carrie that he wanted to go home but doesn’t remember where home is. She has been at the hospital with him. She is quite exhausted but she is doing so well. I’m going to the hospital tomorrow and then I will take her home and get her Christmas tree out of the attic. It’s important there’s some normality, especially for the twins.”.
A GoFundMe fundraiser set up after the incident to help fund his return to the UK last Thursday, November 28, because he didn’t have travel insurance has already raised more than £30,000.
In an update on the GoFundme page last week, friends and family said: “Hi all, just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has donated so far. With your incredible help we have managed to raise enough funds to get him home safely and we can’t thank you enough.
“With that being said Andy’s awful injury is likely going to cause long term recovery as we don’t yet know the full extent of the damage. We would like to push on with this and raise as much funding as possible to support Andy and the family financially along this journey for as long as it takes. Thank you all once again for what you have achieved so far.”
