Brain damaged boxer Nathan Davies making 'miracle' recovery

Nathan has been in hospital since June 2016, but is now able to return home on weekends

"We don't think your son is going to survive." It is the news no parent would ever want to hear.

Martin and Alison Davies' world fell apart as surgeons explained their son had suffered brain damage.

Just a few hours before, 16-year-old Nathan was looking forward to his second amateur boxing match.

But he ended up on a life-support machine after collapsing in the final seconds of the bout.

"I would not wish what we went through on my very worst enemy," said Mr Davies. "It was worse than a nightmare."

Nathan had been training twice a week at Porthcawl and Pyle Pumas amateur boxing club

"No-one knows why he collapsed," recalled Mr Davies. "He wasn't badly hit, there's no underlying health problems but something must have triggered it."

Nathan, two years younger than brother Josh, had just completed his GCSEs at Porthcawl Comprehensive School in Bridgend county and was looking forward to training as a mechanic.

The sporting fanatic, a keen footballer and talented golfer, was six months into his new love of boxing, training twice a week at Porthcawl and Pyle Pumas amateur boxing club, when he ventured into Joe Calzaghe country of the Gwent valleys.

It was June 2016 and the bout in Cefn Fforest, near Blackwood, was supposed to be a step towards Welsh trials later that autumn.

"He'd worked so hard in training and even took our border collie Mia out for runs," said Mr Davies.

Some observers had Nathan winning the 54kg contest.

After he collapsed, ringside doctors went to his aid and worked for about 25 minutes before he was taken to hospital by paramedics in nearby Newport.

Nathan enjoyed walking with father

"That point it was all a blur," Mr Davies recalled. "Seeing your son attached to all those machines, it was a living nightmare.

"Then they showed us his brain scan and our world collapsed.

"Doctors said there was very little hope for Nathan. Like many, we're a really close family and we were all broken."

Nathan had suffered a bleed on the brain and was immediately transferred to the specialist neurosurgery unit in Cardiff for major emergency surgery.

He underwent "countless operations" including having a plate inserted as surgeons fought to save his life.

Nathan spent two-and-a-half weeks in critical care and his devastated parents never left his bedside.

"The doctors said 'you should stay in case you can't get back in time'," said Mr Davies.

"Of course, we were going nowhere. We couldn't leave him. This is when he needed his mum and dad most."

Mr Davies, a 48-year-old steelworker at the Tata plant in Port Talbot, stayed on the ward for six weeks.

His "dedicated" wife did not return to the family home in Bridgend for 17 weeks.

"It has been tough but our friends and family have helped get Nathan - and us - through," said Mr Davies.

Nathan has since left Cardiff's University Of Wales Hospital and has been transferred to a smaller hospital near his father's work in Port Talbot.

"He's even coming home now on weekends," said Mr Davies.

Nathan had been accepted on to a course at Bridgend College to become a mechanic

"The emotion of when he came home for the first time, it was overwhelming. It was lovely to have him where he belongs," said Mr Davies.

"Nathan spends all week at the neuro-rehabilitation centre where he is constantly nagging physios for extra sessions as he tries to walk again.

"Where he is now to where he was, well, it's a miracle. He is an inspiration. I can't believe how much he has recovered."

The family is taking a pragmatic approach regarding Nathan's rehabilitation.

"You can't set long-term goals when it comes to brain injury," said Mr Davies. "The doctors don't know how far Nathan's recovery will go.

"He started getting movement in his left arm the other day, so we take it one hurdle at a time. And goals like that spur him - and us - on."

Now, former WBU middleweight champion Gary Lockett and Hollywood actor Michael Sheen are supporting the family's efforts to raise funds to help pay for Nathan's long-term care.