Lace Up: James Macready-Bryan brain damage from one punch

JAMES Macready-Bryan’s head was so swollen following a one-punch attack that he was almost unrecognisable. He has never been the same.

He cannot eat for himself, he can barely move. He is bedridden and his piercing screams are impossible to interpret, even for his mother.

Through it all, she have never left his side. But she hopes nobody else has to go through what her family has gone through.

Eight years after Macready-Bryan was punched on his 20th birthday in Melbourne’s CBD, his mother Robyn Brewin said he struggles on a day-to-day basis.

“He’s fed by a tube, he’s crippled, he can’t speak or communicate for us to even know what’s wrong with him,” she told news.com.au.

“You really couldn’t be much more disabled than James and survive. This is more than eight years on and he relies on care 24 hours a day. In some ways, in the depths of my sadness, I thought it would’ve been easier if James passed away because then we could’ve had closure.”

But she does not feel that way now.

“James is with us and his personality is still there. I will be by his side all the way, always, ensuring he has the best life possible. He may be profoundly disabled but he is still a person and there are many fabulous therapists and carers helping us to achieve the best and fullest possible life.”

Macready-Bryan’s story is sadly not unique. Sydney teenager Thomas Kelly died shortly after being punched on a night out in 2012. Daniel Christie, 18, died in January last year after he too was senselessly attacked. Christie became Australia’s 15th fatality from a single punch in the last six years.

Mrs Brewin said with each new attack her heart sinks and her memory returns to that night in 2006.

“Even though it was over eight years ago, I think about that night quite a lot. If the phone goes I still feel sick in the stomach.

“I’d just gone to bed about and about 11.30pm I took the phone call from police. The officer said James was in the Royal Melbourne Hospital and had been assaulted. I said ‘Is he alright?’ and he wouldn’t answer me. That was awful. I knew instantly that something really bad had happened.

“I remember jumping in the car. I went to casualty. They rushed me through. They didn’t expect him to live. That was the start of the merry-go-round.

“Every time (another attack happens) I think ‘not again’. Because I know the huge effect that it has on families, friends — it’s a life long sentence that we’ve got.

“We hear about the high profile cases when people die but that’s the tip of the iceberg. Many more go on and suffer permanent brain damage as a result of these attacks.”

James can’t move much these days but in his earlier years was a keen and talented Aussie Rules footballer. A new campaign launching on Thursday will involve hundreds of sporting clubs, including some major football clubs, with the aim of teaching young men about the consequences of their actions.

The “Lace Up “ campaign is being run by advocacy group Step Back Think, which started as an idea pitched in Macready-Bryan’s loungeroom in the days after his attack. It has steadily grown since and today is actively looking for funding to ensure it can continue its work in education, awareness and research.

The campaign includes a new television commercial and will see players from the Melbourne Storm, Melbourne Rebels and Greater Western Sydney wear orange laces to highlight the issue.

Mrs Brewin said it will be a success even if it stops just one attack and saves just one family the fate that she lives with every day.

“Violence can never solve an issue. I don’t believe that there’s anything that violence can solve. It’s not right. There are better ways to deal with any issue than violence. We just want people to think about the consequences. It’s important to think about what could happen before getting into that situation.”

Visit stepbackthink.org for details.

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