Son's recovery after 2002 attack

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A mother has described her son's struggle back to life almost seven years after he was brutally beaten.

Angela Main said although her son Leon Adams, 31, will never walk again and has severe brain damage, he has still a chance of a reasonable quality of life.

"The signs in recent months have been really good," said Mrs Main from Pontardawe, Swansea Valley.

His attackers near Grangetown railway station in Cardiff on Valentine's Day, 2002 have never been caught.

In 2002, Leon was a barman in The Cottage pub in St Mary Street in Cardiff, trying to earn enough to do a computer course at college.

He had finished work on 14 February and was walking home when he was attacked and robbed of his £130 pay.

There's a part of me that feels so guilty that I might have ended his life Angela Main

For two years Leon lay in a coma, and Mrs Main said she and his sister, Louise, had abandoned hope.

"We gave up. We were convinced that there was never going to be any more. We were told by the doctors that there was really no hope, because there was not anything."

In December 2003 Mrs Main said she was given the worst possible news, that her son was in PVS (Persistent Vegetative State).

She said: "Leon's wish had been if he was PVS, he wanted his life ended. That was the most incredibly hard thing for me to deal with."

But there were more tests to be done - and many heartfelt discussions in the family - before any decision was taken and in the following March, the doctors said Leon was no longer in PVS, after a change of medication.

"There's a part of me that feels so guilty that I might have ended his life," said Mrs Main.

Plasma television

Now Leon, who lives in a specialist nursing home in Swansea, is making slow but steady progress with many encouraging signs.

"He cannot speak, but he nods, shakes his head, can make some hand signals, and has some movement in his arm.

"We want it to be so much more, but we have to take one step at a time," she said.

He has a plasma television in his room and his own Facebook page on which he is able, with the help of his carers, to message friends.

You might say 'It's not my business'. But it is, because it could be you next Angela Main

Mrs Main said they would like to be able to buy him a sophisticated computer which would allow Leon to do much more, but finding a suitable and affordable one was a problem.

A few months ago, Leon had an operation to remove the tracheostomy tube which had been helping him breathe, and for the first time in years the family has heard his deep laugh.

"That was magic," said his mother.

"Leon never used to shut up," said Mrs Main, remembering how he was before the attack, "that's what makes it so difficult for us now."

Charity shop

Over the years, she has had to continue with the rest of her life while still visiting and caring for Leon.

She moved house so that she could be minutes away from Leon, married husband Pete five years ago and has three stepchildren alongside Leon, Louise, her foster daughter Jane and her children, all playing a part in her busy life.

There is also a two-year-old grandson Dylan who has bought new joy to her life and she also finds time to work part time in a cystic fibrosis charity shop in Pontardawe.

"The world is full of nasty people, but there are also some nice people out there," she said.

Mrs Main is full of praise for the police support she has received over the years but she would like her son's attacker or attackers to be caught.

But she said: "Unless somebody is prepared to stand up and be counted, there is not a lot we can do.

"Leon can't communicate. There were no eyewitnesses. We need somebody to come forward".

She said if people were scared to come forward individually, they should unite in a group.

"You might say 'It's not my business'. But it is, because it could be you next."