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The Sun
2 days ago
- The Sun
I was left with a fractured skull and brain damage after ‘random' attack on night out… then I got a chilling message
A MAN was left with brain damage after a vicious attack as he walked home from a night out. Al Moreton woke up in hospital two days after the incident, with no memory of what happened. 9 9 9 The 46-year-old was left with two bleeds on the brain, brain damage and four fractures to his skull, and has lost his job as a HGV driver as a result. Doctors told him his injuries were consistent with being struck repeatedly, rather than a fall, he says. But with police closing the case after being unable to find any CCTV footage, Al posted about it on Facebook before receiving an odd response. He was sent a DM from a stranger telling him he may know who committed the attack but was too scared to give any further details. Al had been attending a friend's private birthday party at Bomba nightclub in Exeter on Friday, February 28. He drove from his home in Cullompton, Devon, arriving at the club around 8pm - with the plan to get the last bus home at 11pm and pick up his car the next day. However, Al is told by pals he became quickly intoxicated despite only having a few drinks, and fears he may have been spiked. He told The Sun: "I don't remember anything from after leaving the house due to my injuries." Al understands he left the club, in The Quay area of the city centre, at 10.30pm with the intention of heading for the bus station. But he said witnesses told him he was seen walking the opposite direction towards the River Exe. At around 11am the next day he was found by a passerby lying unconscious at Marsh Barton industrial estate, around two miles from the club. "All I've been told is someone who spotted me picked me up and dropped me at the hospital," he explained. "He didn't leave his name or anything, he just dropped me off and didn't want to be involved in any other way." Al added: "I'd like to be able to thank the person. I've no idea who they are. It was a very strange event which has caused me massive problems." I'd like to be able to thank the person. I've no idea who they are. It was a very strange event which has caused me massive problems. Al Moretonattack victim He explained he had a "small recollection" of Saturday, March 1, "but thought that was a dream", adding: "When I woke up on Sunday I realised it wasn't a dream. I had family around me." Al said his injuries, according to hospital staff, "aren't consistent with falling over - the injury to my forehead is consistent with being hit by something". He continued: "I've got no scraping - if I'd fallen over I would have hit something and scraped. "I've just got particular points where I might have been hit by something. 9 9 9 "They discounted the fact I had fallen over and must have been from an attack." Al said he reported it to police and they "investigated for a month or so" and was told officers had done door to door inquiries and searched for CCTV footage - but came up with nothing. "It's odd that there's no footage of me, considering I ended up on an industrial estate where I assume there's loads of cameras," he said. Judging by his route, Al believes he likely walked passed a couple of pubs too. "Pubs would've been kicking out that sort of time and people would've been around and about," he said. Strangely, Al didn't have any possessions missing when he woke up in the hospital. "My phone was apparently missing but was actually picked up by a doctor who worked at the hospital, so I had it back when I woke up," he explained. "My wallet was there and there was no money missing, so it wasn't a robbery." Roaming gang Al theorised it could have been a gang roaming around who attacked him at random. "They may have seen how vulnerable I was and decided to start something," he said. "I'm not a violent person, I wouldn't have been aggressive, I never am when I'm drunk, I'm more of a lover than fighter when I'm drunk." He posted about the incident on Facebook a few days after getting out of hospital and then a couple of weeks ago noticed he had "four or five" messages in his spam folder. "There was someone who had said that they thought they saw me actually not at the Quay but further away in a different direction, stumbling around drunk. "I've got to hand that onto the police and see if they pursue that." He said another message was very strange. "Someone on Facebook said 'I know who the people are'. "They said 'I'm a bit afraid to talk about it' - but then said they would give further information for money, so I don't know how real that was. I passed it onto police." The event Al was attending was a private, invite-only do for around 50 people. Asked how likely it is he could've been spiked, he said: "I find it hard to believe, usually it's women who get spiked. But speaking to someone else, they said actually all sorts of people get spiked because you're left vulnerable and can be followed." He's not sure if he was tested for substances in his blood while he was in hospital but said it wasn't mentioned by the doctors. Referring to his injuries, Al continued: "I had two bleeds on the brain, one on each side at the front and then four fractures around my right eye socket. I'm not working, so struggling to pay rent and pay bills. It's led to a dramatic change in my circumstances Al Moretonattack victim "That's now been fixed and plated. One of the points I had a bleed I had some damage to the brain on that side, which has caused me to effectively lose my job because I'm a lorry driver. "I've had my licences revoked for 12 months because I'm at a risk of seizures. "I'm not working, so struggling to pay rent and pay bills. It's led to a dramatic change in my circumstances." Al has been told he suffered "serious significant head injuries" but that his cognitive functions will improve over time. "Like with a lot of injuries, it takes time while I recover - they said I should recover 100%, but they can't be sure at this stage." Al says he was told by the DVLA he needed to prove he's "less than a two percent risk" of seizures over a 12 month period before he can be given his licence back. "I've not had a seizure and I don't feel like I've been on the verge of having one," he explained. Al is currently suffering with post concussion syndrome, having spent a couple of months living at his mum's home following the attack. "I wasn't bedridden but I was extremely tired and had constant headaches which were debilitating in themselves," he said of that initial recovery period. "I had constant headaches, woke up with them and went bed with them - I was drained and worn out by the injuries, so mostly stayed in bed." He added: "I'm keeping myself to myself. I've got a little bit of social anxiety after what happened." The Sun has approached Devon & Cornwall Police for comment. 9 9 9
The Sun
17-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
£8,000 Turkey teeth op left me looking like I'd been in a car crash – I had to fly home and I'm STILL toothless
FOR Helen Crighton, the trip to Turkey was a chance to get the teeth she'd always dreamed of as well as a sun-soaked holiday. But the 55-year-old HGV driver from Halifax was left so disfigured after the £8,000 procedure that she was completely unrecognisable and covered in horror bruises. 8 8 8 Helen had travelled to Antalya to get the gap in her gnashers fixed and to improve her crumbling smile after giving birth to two children and suffering from calcium deficiency. She's certainly not alone. An incredible 1.2million people travel to Turkey for cosmetic surgery every year, with 150,000 of them being Brits arriving for dental procedures. But it became clear that things had gone wrong when her face had swollen so much she could no longer see. Horror pictures showed Helen's face covered in dark bruises and twice the size, but the after reaching out to the clinic they told her it was "completely normal". 'I couldn't believe what I saw,' she says. 'My entire face was enormous, from my inflated cheeks to my bulbous neck. 'My lips were so huge I could barely move them and my eyes so swollen I could hardly see. 'Every angle I snapped looked worse and worse. 'Panic flooded through me as one thought kept pounding through my aching head. 'Oh my god Helen, what on earth have you done?'' The mum-of-two and gran-of-five had been desperate to 'save her smile' after a lifetime of teeth troubles. 'As a child I had a gap in my two front teeth which I always hated,' she admits. 'Even in my primary school photos I'd only smile with my mouth closed.' Crumbling smile Then, when she was pregnant with daughter Amy, now 33, Helen's teeth got worse. I went to Turkey to get the perfect Snapchat filter face but my op was more like a horror film - my eye no longer shuts She explains: 'Due to a really bad calcium deficiency they began to crumble, and they only got worse after Amy was born. 'I was at the dentist twice a month for a year. 'Life as a truck driver certainly didn't help, as it made a proper dental routine hard and the food on the road wasn't the best. I ended up with irreversible gum disease. 'It was awful. I'd try to eat soft food like mashed potato but even then, it was painful.' One by one Helen's teeth began to fall out, and even the ones she had, she couldn't afford to keep. 'I haven't had an NHS dentist for years, as they're so hard to find,' she says. 'In 2016 I was in such pain I went to an emergency private dentist, who said the only way to save that particular tooth was a root canal. 'I just couldn't afford the £250 it would cost, so I had to have it removed. I was in floods of tears.' 8 8 Then, in 2024, Helen had had enough. 'All my back molars had gone but when the ones closer to the front began to wobble, I thought 'I need to get this sorted before I lose them all',' she says. 'I knew someone who'd had a full set of implants done and it looked amazing, but was about £30,000 - an impossible amount for me to find.' Turkey alternative That's when Helen decided it was time to get herself some Turkey teeth. It wasn't the first time Helen had been to Turkey to make herself look better. In March 2024 she travelled to the country for a gastric sleeve that saw her lose over nine stone. So she didn't hesitate to turn to Turkey - this time hoping to transform her teeth. 'I picked a different clinic this time, as I fancied going to Antalya,' she says. 'The reviews I read were all great and I was so excited to get on the plane.' Seeing the selfies on my phone I was speechless with shock Helen Crighton Helen knew the process would mean two different trips. 'The first time I'd have all my remaining teeth removed,' she explains. 'I'd then return months later to have all the new teeth put in. 'Including the flight, transfers and hotel it would cost £8,400. " At first everything went as Helen expected. A private car was there to meet her at the airport and whisk her to the luxurious hotel. Then it was on to the clinic. She says: 'After all my x-rays they told me I'd need a bone graft and a double sinus lift. 'I'd also need a titanium bar fitted, where the teeth would eventually be attached. 'I've always been terrified of the dentist, so I decided to go for a general anaesthetic rather than being awake with a local anaesthetic for the three-hour procedure.' Horrendous pain Helen doesn't remember waking up or getting back to the hotel. 'But I do remember having a terrible night,' she recalls. 'Despite the pain relief it was tough going, and the next day I was still pretty groggy. 'It felt so weird not to have any teeth in my mouth, and I knew that my face was a bit swollen, but I just tried to rest as much as I could.' Then, two days after the procedure, Helen reached for her camera and saw how she looked. 'Seeing the selfies on my phone I was speechless with shock,' Helen says. 'I looked horrific, like I'd been in a terrible car accident or been beaten up by someone. 'My mouth felt so weird with these two swollen lips, and I was struggling to see properly because of my huge eyelids. I just couldn't believe that this strange, inflated face was mine. 'My brain was racing. Was I having an allergic reaction to something?' 'Perfectly normal' But when Helen sent photos to the clinic, they told her that her reaction was 'perfectly normal'. 'I felt my anger rise,' she recalls. 'All they would say was how normal this was, and that the black eyes were due to the sinus lift. 'I couldn't believe it - I looked like a baboon's bottom.' That's when Helen posted the pictures on Facebook and Instagram. Helen says: 'I wanted to see what other people thought, and the comments came thick and fast. 'Are you okay?' 'You're crazy' and 'Did they smash your teeth out with a sledgehammer?' 'I'd made friends with Michelle, another patient at the hotel who had the same procedure 24 hours after me. She looked a little swollen, but otherwise normal. 'When she saw me, she froze in shock and said, 'Oh my god!' In that moment I really regretted my decision.' When I finally have the smile that I've always dreamed of, it will all be worth it Helen Crighton Then Helen took a very deep breath. She says: 'I realised that I needed to stay calm. That what was done was done, and that this was just a means to an end. ''It will all be fine,' I told myself firmly. 'If I hadn't accidentally booked six nights I'd be flying home that day. 'The thought of sitting on a plane looking the way I did made me smile.' Helen would need that sense of humour. Because when she woke up the next day the swelling may have gone but the bruising was worse. She says: 'I had two black eyes and skin that went from bright yellow to deep purple all down my face and neck. 'But I tried to stay positive. At least my face had returned to a more normal size. 'I decided to brave a trip outdoors with Michelle, but I put on a face mask. Along with my sunglasses that hid the worst of it. I didn't want to scare anyone.' The following day, Helen returned to the clinic where she was given a set of temporary teeth, similar to dentures, that she could wear while waiting for permanent implants later this year. 'Even though they'd seen the pictures I'd sent they were clearly shocked,' Helen says. 'They said it was the worst bruising they'd seen in a very long time.' Still toothless Finally back home in the UK and with the bruises fading, Helen has had to get used to life without teeth. 'I was wrapping a gift for the grandkids and put the Sellotape in my mouth to tear off the end. 'Then I realised I had no teeth to do it! I had to laugh.' Until she returns to Turkey for the implants in October, which will involve six days of treatment, Helen also has to stick to soft foods. As for the future, Helen hasn't been put off and already has more Turkey treatments planned. 'I'd love to have a mummy makeover and a facelift,' she adds. 'I refuse to let what's happened put me off. And when I finally have the smile that I've always dreamed off, it will all be worth it.' 8 8
BBC News
09-05-2025
- BBC News
Biker dies after crash with lorry in South Lanarkshire
A biker has died following a crash with a lorry on the A70 in South incident happened at about 14:40 on Thursday between Douglas and services attended and the 37-year-old male rider of the motorbike was pronounced dead at the scene. The HGV driver was road was closed to allow for crash investigation work and reopened about nine hours later. Sgt Elaine Scott said: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the man who died at this very difficult time."Inquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances, and we are appealing to anyone who witnessed the crash to contact us."
