Sherdley Park attack victim rebuilds his life (From St Helens Star)

Sherdley Park attack victim rebuilds his life

9:59am Thursday 5th November 2009

HE was beaten within inches of his life in one of the most savage and shocking crimes St Helens has witnessed in recent years.

Now seventeen months on since he was battered by a mob in Sherdley Park, the Star can reveal the remarkable courage that has seen Craig Rooney fight back to fitness.

The 19-year-old – who was in intensive care for several weeks following the attack - has stunned family, friends and doctors with his rapid progress in the past six months.

The Star can reveal this week that Craig, from Widnes, has earned a special police commendation for bravery to recognise the force of will that has driven his recovery.

Now speaking to the Star in his first interview about his ordeal, Craig Rooney told how on a check up at hospital last year, staff there had been expecting him to be in a wheelchair. It was still predicted his road to recovery would be fraught with difficulty, yet he has shown the strength of character to begin rebuilding his life and return to work part-time as an apprentice engineer.

To Star readers who followed the court case at the turn of the year, the details of the incident were stomach turning.

The feral gang rained punches and kicks on the apprentice mechanical engineer as he lay defenceless in the park on Thursday, May 22, 2008.

Members of the gang jumped on his head, bit and spat at him as his friends tried to prevent the onslaught.

At his home in Widnes, speaking alongside his mother Sylvia, Craig explained how is recollection of that day is non-existent: “All I have been told are certain things and in my mind I try to work out bits about the night.

“When people say we did this and that on the day you do say to yourself do I really remember or am I reconstructing it in my mind.”

Sylvia (44) spent several weeks at the bedside of her son as he lay in a coma in Walton Neurological Hospital, before finally regained consciousness.

She said: “He didn’t ask why he was there or understand why he was in hospital. In the end we had to tell him.” As he began to gain more awareness of his surroundings, it dawned on Craig where he was.

With a burgeoning self-assurance and maturity, Craig, who stands 6ft 6ins tall and weighs 16 stone, added: “When my mum first told me I remember lying in bed and had a fear of what people would think of me for getting beaten up.

“It wasn’t until my mate came in later that day who told me the extent of what happened, that made me feel a lot better.”

With refreshing candour Craig said any thoughts he harboured for revenge were pointless, as he was determined to move on with his life.

He continued: “It’s been hard. It was a bad thing that happened, but you try your best to go forward and deal with it. Even now, walking down the streets with my mates, if I see a big gang I don’t know, I will be hesitant to walk past them.

“These days if you are in a gang and you are young, you are harder, but if they are on their own, they wouldn’t say boo to a goose.”

Any feelings towards his cowardly attackers, who were described in court as “a pack of animals”, are surprisingly restrained. He said: “I hate them, but I’m not one to be sitting at home day in, day out thinking how can I get them back. I can’t turn the clock back, so I just get on and forget about it, because at the end of the day it’s like a bad dream. There’s no point crying over it so I am grateful for what I have.”

Despite having to learn how to walk and talk again following the attack, which saw his weight plummet to just 9 stone in hospital, Craig is adamant that he will not let it affect the rest of his life.

His recovery has been boosted since he returned to work at Central Electrical in Kirkby around four months ago and having a ceramic plate put in his skull, which he says gave him confidence to go out. And within 12 months, the budding centre half will be able to enjoy contact sport and join his local football team.

He adds: “Going back to work brings your self esteem up, getting back to a routine life. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of lads to work with.”

Craig, who has also returned to studying at college one day a week, is looking long term.

He said: “Before this happened to me I was looking to get my apprenticeship and go in the RAF or the Navy as an engineer, but now I have a plate in my head, the chances are they won’t accept me. In the future if I haven’t settled down I might still try.”

His close-knit family have endured a nightmare as they watched him beat the odds.

Now beaming with a proud grin, Sylvia admits she is over-protective and was delighted when her son received the police commendation for his bravery in overcoming his injuries.

She singled out for special praise her dad John, who has been a constant source of support and help, and Detective Sergeant Paul Bennett, from St Helens CID, for helping bring the attackers to justice. She also thanked his other grandparents Beryl and Chris Imison.

Craig, who jokingly describes himself as “funny, loving and good looking”, added: “What I have to do be is open minded. At first I wasn’t, but I don’t dwell on it and don’t really like people bringing it up all the time. I want people to try and forget about it and let me go on and put it behind me.

“I want to thank everyone who supported me. But now I want closure. A full stop. Now it’s a new story.”

An emotional Sylvia added: “I want to thank everyone, because I don’t think we would have got through it otherwise. All the love and care Craig had was amazing. I also want to mention Craig’s younger brother James. He is only 13 and we are so proud of the way he adapted to all that has gone on.All he ever is is protective of his family.

“Not a day goes by when I don’t think about what happened. It’s harder for me to put it to bed because I was there (in hospital) all along.

“The only place I could hold was his hand. You looked at him and felt so helpless and it tears away at you. I can’t believe it looking at him now. I’m the luckiest mum in the world! My thoughts are with other families who haven’t been as lucky as me.”

Eight teenagers were jailed for more than 40 years in total for the the sickening attack on Craig and his friends.