A DEVOTED mother, who has spent ten months at the hospital bedside of her brain-damaged son, has told how one punch wrecked their lives.

Craig Kaye, 40, will need one-to-one care for the rest of his life after he was punched in the face, knocking him to the ground and fracturing his skull.

The 16-year-old boy who struck the blow was last week given a two-year youth rehabilitation order, after admitting causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Kaye, on August 31 last year.

Father-of-four Warren Smith, 46, of Hillam Street, Great Horton, Bradford, was also jailed for 18 months after admitting attempting to pervert the course of justice by trying to cover up what had happened.

Andrew Sibson, 39, of Northdale Mount, Wibsey, Bradford, was convicted of perverting the course of justice and given a suspended sentence.

Mr Kaye suffered catastrophic injuries in the incident, which happened in Hollybank Road, Great Horton, as he walked home from a party, and was not expected to survive.

He has been left with permanent brain damage but, speaking publicly for the first time, his mother, Jean Kaye, exclusively told the Telegraph & Argus of her pride at her son's determined battle to walk and talk again.

And she criticised the sentences handed out to the defendants.

Mrs Kaye said: "The law has given them a tap on the hand. They can get on with their lives. They haven't got a sentence. My son has got a life sentence and so has his family."

She said it had been tough to listen to the evidence in court, and particularly to see him on CCTV footage walking for the last time before he was attacked.

Mr Kaye was detained in Leeds General Infirmary for nine months, in intensive care, the high dependency ward and a neurological ward, and in May moved to Chapel Allerton Hospital in Leeds, where he continues to undergo intensive rehabilitation in a bid to walk, talk and eat.

He has suffered two epileptic fits and another could kill him, and he has a stent in his head to drain fluid and prevent swelling.

Mrs Kaye, of Bradford, said: "He was effectively dead when the ambulance got to him.

"If it hadn't been for the paramedics he wouldn't be here now. He has been through an awful lot but he will come through the other side. The way he has fought in the last ten months is absolutely amazing. I am so proud of him."

She thanked all the medical staff who had cared for her son, as well as family, the police and prosecutor.

Mrs Kaye said: "We were told Craig was more or less dead when he got to the hospital. For months we were told he would never walk again and would need 24/7 care.

"I was alone with him when he had his first epileptic fit. I didn't know what was happening, it was frightening. I grabbed him and held on to him. I pressed the alarm button and within seconds the room was full of doctors and nurses.

"He was laid in bed for so long his feet twisted inwards and they had to stretch his tendons to straighten his heels."

For many months Mrs Kaye went to see her son every day. She still visits him five days a week, with his sisters Dawn, 48, and Andrea, 46, filling in the gaps, and is at last starting to see some slow improvement.

"He took his first step in March and can now manage to walk a few steps with a physiotherapist supporting him on either side. He had two pairs of special boots made for him but they were big and heavy and he hated them. He loved Nike trainers when he was a child, so I bought him a pair. He couldn't wait to put them on."

Mr Kaye is also now managing to speak a few words and eat pureed food.

His mother said: "We can make out half sentences when he speaks. We have had to be cruel to be kind sometimes to make him push himself to try to do things. He has been through so much. We were told at the beginning that even if he survived, his recovery would take years. We have been prepared for the long haul.

"He has to have another brain scan. We still don't know how much of the damage is going to be permanent. There is a long way to go yet. But he knows how to cheat at dominoes and noughts and crosses!

"He can't live independently. He will need a one-to-one carer for the rest of his life. But I feel my son will be happy and have a lot to look forward to in his life.

"It has been absolutely horrendous and what happened has changed our lives forever. I will never let him be by himself. A mother's love is unconditional. As time goes on I am starting to see more of the son that I recognise. I can see the love and the laughter in his face and that is brilliant."