A MOTHER has spoken for the first time about the brain injury suffered by her son after just one punch.

Lisa Edwards has been by her son George's side almost night and day since he suffered the life-threatening blow to his head outside a Borough Green pub 10 months ago.

She said: "I want to let people know one punch can cause a terrible amount of damage.

"If just someone thinks 'I will be careful' then it's worth it."

George, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a type of autism, was 16 when a friend hit him outside the Henry Simmons early one Tuesday evening last March.

That one punch meant he would spend three weeks on a life-support machine, three months in a coma, and that almost a year later he would still barely be able to talk or walk.

His mother said: "I'm grieving for the boy I had and lost, and he's grieving for what he's lost, and the things he can no longer do. No-one can imagine what it is like unless they have experienced it."

The teenager, described by his mother as "a loveable rogue", went to Borough Green Primary School, as well as Hugh Christie Technology College and the Adolescent Resource Centre, both in Tonbridge.

Now 17, he is a patient at The Children's Trust rehabilitation centre in Tadworth, Surrey, with his mother living in the grounds.

Only occasionally is she able to return home to Crow Hill, Borough Green, to see her 19-year-old daughter Courtney and new grandson Henry, born on January 5.

But, after giving up work to nurse George, she is determined she will do everything she can to improve her son's quality of life.

She said: "He is only just learning to say words.

"He is just so determined, the doctors can't believe it. They think he is amazing – which he is."

When George first came out of the coma, he could only blink for yes and no and point.

He can now write a few words, either by hand or on his laptop.

He is fed by a tube into his stomach, has limited eyesight and mobility, and is unlikely to be able to return home for at least another six months. He has pulled through two bouts of pneumonia as well as renal failure.

Mrs Edwards said: "Although I want people to know he is getting better, I want them to understand more about brain injury. Sometimes it is like starting all over again.

"But we are trying to show him that he can have a quality of life and that there is hope."

George is due to have a plate put in his head after a quarter of his skull was removed when his brain swelled to dangerous levels.

Doctors are also hoping to carry out tendon releases, allowing easier movement of his wrists and feet.

Mrs Edwards thanked local people who raised about £4,000 so she could buy a specially-adapted car and a laptop for George. She is hoping to use the remaining funds to take her son on holiday once he is well enough.

Det Insp Mark Hutcheon from Kent Police said: "After a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident the case was presented to the Crown Prosecution Service for review.

"A senior lawyer concluded that all reasonable lines of inquiry had been conducted and that the injuries suffered were the tragic consequence of boisterous behaviour between a group of friends.

"Criminal charges were carefully considered but it was decided that this would not be in the public interest."