Yesterday afternoon my older son, Karl, who is studying Musical Production at Brighton University, came round to see his family. He had just been to see his pregnant girlfriend, who is staying with her mum and dad for a week.
Karl is a wonderful boy; the type of son any parent would be proud of. He is loving, considerate, respectful and has never once caused any trouble or been in any. When he came round yesterday he walked over to me and gave me a really big hug. We are close!
Karl only stayed a couple of hours before packing some clothes in a suitcase-type bag on wheels, which we purchased for his birthday last March (knowing he'd need it for all his travels) and in which he placed another bag containing personal items. He set off to catch the train to Brighton from Manchester, with a change at Watford. He finally got into Brighton around 1.30am this morning and proceeded to walk to his student accommodation - a house he shares with friends.
On the way up the steep hill heading towards the house he noticed a group of around 20 youths, aged 15-16, standing on a corner. Karl proceeded to walk past them and became the victim of name calling, which he ignored. Then, without warning, he was punched in the face. He managed to grab hold of one of the assailants, tearing his jacket, but suddenly realised he was in serious danger. He let go of his luggage and did the most sensible thing - he ran! Some of the youths gave chase but, thankfully, Karl has always been athletic and outpaced them.
Our telephone rang at 3.00 a.m. and, as you can imagine, Claire and I were troubled because early morning calls are not usually ones to be upbeat about. Karl had managed to get to a telephone box, called the police and was picked up by them. He was telephoning us from the police station where he'd been asked to give a statement. Afterwards a police officer drove him home and a witness has revealed the name of one of the attackers.
Manchester, where I live and Karl was brought up, has been called 'Gunchester' because of the amount of shootings which, sadly, are no longer uncommon and which are usually drug-related (and tend to be in a particular area of the city). Since exiting the JWs almost 4 years ago Karl has been a regular traveller to the city centre and has come home in the early hours of the morning. Not once has he been accosted! Amazing, isn't it!
Well, we can't wrap our children, especially young adults (Karl is 21), up in cotton wool. It wouldn't have even mattered if Karl had been a judo expert as there were just too many attackers! As parents we obviously worry about our children and can only offer advice. Recently on the TV news there has been a number of incidents where young men have been set upon by more than one assailant. Some have died and others received brain damage through being kicked continually in the head while on the floor.
Today, Karl is at his house, bruised, shaken and feeling nauseous.We are so thankful that he managed to escape before weight of numbers got him to the ground. The consequences, had this occurred, are too horrifying to contemplate.
Ian