Robert overcomes beating to achieve history honours

A summer holiday in Gran Canaria changed Robert Pooley’s life forever. One night he was dragged from his apartment and subjected to a vicious beating. The random attack left Robert in a coma for six weeks and a one in 100,000 chance of survival. When he came out of the coma, Robert’s parents were told by a consultant that he would be blind and severely disabled.

However, Robert underwent a recovery that astounded his consultant. Although Robert is 50 per cent blind, registered disabled and has other health problems, he never gave up on his dream of going to university. Now, seven years after the attack, Robert has achieved a BA (Hons) degree in History from the University of Teesside and is aiming for a career in the arts.

Robert, 26, lives in Billingham. In 1999 he and seven friends flew out to Playa del Ingles in Gran Canaria. Robert was hoping to enjoy a summer break after his A levels. Ten days into the holiday, his hopes were destroyed.

Robert said: “There was a knock on our apartment door at 5am. I got out of bed to answer the door and a big guy grabbed me by the throat and pulled me out. I woke up six weeks later in Middlesbrough General Hospital. At first I thought I’d been in a car crash, I was told I had a head injury. Then my Dad, Bob, asked if I could remember who had attacked me? I had no idea. The circumstances came back to me slowly; I had no memory of the attack before then.”

Robert learned he’d spent two weeks in a coma in intensive care in Gran Canaria, before being flown back to the UK. He was later able to identify his attacker in Manchester, but the case could not be prosecuted back in Gran Canaria as a judge ruled there was a lack of evidence.

Initially Robert was paralysed from the neck down and could only communicate by blinking. After three weeks, his senses and movement began to recover gradually. He was in hospital for six months and wheelchair bound for a further five. During this time Robert had to learn how to wash and feed himself. He then underwent extensive rehabilitation.

Before the attack, Robert was planning to go away to university. This was no longer possible, but Robert still wanted to study locally. Robert said: “When I was in hospital university was always my aim. The medical staff tried to dampen this; they thought I couldn’t do it. My parents listened to what they were saying, but they knew it’s what I wanted to do.”

Robert enrolled on a History degree at Teesside in 2002, studying for two years full-time and two years part-time. Robert said: “I’d been through a wasteland of depression, being at University was critical to getting me out of this. I wanted to break free from myself, to live my life the way I wanted to.

“The University is fantastic, I was fascinated by History. I really got into the essays and projects; the work was stimulating and exciting. I particularly enjoyed studying nineteenth century Britain and Ancient Greece. The social rehabilitation I experienced at the University was absolutely vital as well, learning how to mix with people of all ages again. I did sometimes get very tired, switching to part-time helped. And my Mum June was a huge help, by reading through textbooks and highlighting passages for me.”

With the degree over, Robert is aiming for an arts career, such as working in a gallery. He still undergoes rehabilitation in a local health club, and has written two unpublished books. The first is autobiographical, exploring his life after the attack, the second a children’s book.

Robert’s parents and his sister Claire, her husband Simon and their three children will all attend his University graduation later this year at Middlesbrough Town Hall. Robert said: “My parents are ecstatic. When my Dad first saw me after the attack he thought I would be a cabbage, that he’d have to look after me for the rest of my life. Now I’ve achieved a degree and am living independently.”

Robert is a former pupil of Northfield School and Bede Sixth Form College, both in Billingham. His mother June is also a Teesside graduate.

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