THE mother of an 18-year-old boy has made a heartfelt appeal following an attack on her son which left him unconscious and on a ventilator in a Birmingham hospital.

The attack took place on Thursday, December 22, at about 10pm in New Road, Rubery, in an alleyway close to the Co-Op store. The youth is said to live in the Rubery area.

The victim's mother, who did not want to be named, said: "Christmas has been dreadful this year. My son has been kept under sedation and on a ventilator and is in the critical care unit of the hospital after being attacked and we don't know why this happened or who did it.

"I simply want answers to those questions and for my boy to get better and come home.

"We have his Christmas presents waiting at home and when he gets better, then we shall have our Christmas.

"I don't want anyone else to go through the pain that we have. When you know that your son has been seriously injured your worst nightmare becomes a reality. I simply spend every day waiting for him to regain consciousness.

"I would urge anyone who knows what happened that night to come forward and speak to the police. Our family needs to know what happened to make sense of this."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the CID at Bromsgrove or Redditch on 08457 444888.

Meanwhile DS Damien Pettit, of West Mercia police which is studying CCTV footage, said: "Anyone with information who does not want to speak to a police officer can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111. No names are taken and a reward may be offered for information leading to the arrest and charge of an offender."

A man has been arrested and bailed pending further inquiries into the incident.