His life changed forever that night…
It was New Year’s eve 2001, and Col Patterson was ringing in another year by enjoying a night out with some family and friends in Kildare.
It was a night like countless other Irish people have experienced, he did some drinking, some dancing and stopped into a takeaway on the way home to pick up a taco fries.
But in the chipper, Col was the victim of a vicious, unprovoked, attack which changed the course of his life forever and one that could easily have killed him
His old life shifted beyond recognition as a result of the assault and Col spoke to JOE about the incident and how it has affected him for years afterwards:
“We went into the chipper, an Abrakebabra, and joined the back of a long queue,” Col said. “It was a busy night in Kildare.
“As my sister and I stood in line, two guys came into the queue behind us and immediately you got a sense that they were looking for trouble. One of them in particular seemed intent on starting something as he made comments to anyone who’d listen.
“He directed one of the comments at me but I tried to ignore him and instead spoke to my sister, but he seemed intent on causing trouble.
“I’m quite a tall guy but I hate violence of any type and have never been in a fight. I like a quiet life,” Col added.
The comments then stopped as Col stood in the queue for another five minutes while the busy chipper handled the orders of the other customers. But things were to take a dramatic turn which changed Col’s life forever.
Col recalls the moment he was brutally ‘rabbit punched’ by the man.
“I can still hear the guy say, “watch this,” from behind me and I got hit with an almighty punch in the back of the head. It was completely unexpected, a real coward’s punch.
“I fell to the ground but I was lucky the place was so packed, it prevented me from hitting my head off the hard floor.
“I woke up disorientated and in agony a minute later and saw my brother and sister tackling the man along with a security guard,” Col said.
Col was conscious and helped home by family members but against the wishes of his family, he refused to see a doctor immediately and wanted to sleep off the incident, a choice Col himself declared “stupid” in hindsight.
“I just didn’t want any more fuss,” Col said. “I was in shock. Physically my right eye and jaw were in a bad way and my back teeth are still numb to this day.”
In a way Col was fortunate, one punch attacks like that often end in death, the victim gone forever leaving his loved ones behind to grieve their absence and the aggressor facing charges of murder or manslaughter over the incident.
But his ordeal was far from over.
Col had been working as a civil servant in Dublin at the time and was a member of a promising band who’d released an album and performed a few gigs prior to the attack. This life he’d lived was shattered in the aftermath of the event and he was left a shell of the man he had been beforehand.
“Gradually, as time passed, I noticed my form go downhill,” Col recalls. “I’d started to look behind me as I walked home, I’d sit in front of the TV all evening rather than going for a drink with my flatmate. My relationships suffered.
“I was just feeling deeply unhappy, but I couldn’t talk about it or explain it. I was withdrawn from life. I felt worthless.
“I wanted to die.”
Col sought out medical help and was diagnosed with depression and started on medication.
However, his anxiety was worsening, which resulted in him leaving his job in Dublin and returning to the family home in Kildare. Things deteriorated rapidly for him as he became more anxious and ashamed of leaving the house, culminating in a suicide attempt.
“I tried to kill myself at one point when I was at my lowest ebb and could see no future,” Col revealed. “Thankfully, my sister walked in on me and brought me to hospital.
“The legacy of that attack is periods of deep depression and ongoing medication for a number of years. It’s been a constant struggle to get back my self-confidence and only for good friends and family, I’d be fucked altogether, I’ve no doubt about it.
“I’m trying to slowly build a new life for myself and I’m getting the help I need to do get back the confidence I once had, but I don’t feel like the same guy at all.
“I know I’m lucky he didn’t kill me that night, but in a sense, he killed a big part of me with that punch and my life and self-confidence has never been the same again.
“I miss the old Col…”
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