The family of a teenager left in intensive care after he was attacked just yards from his home have praised hospital staff for saving his life.
Fifteen-year-old Harry Carver's skull and jaw were fractured and he suffered a brain haemorrhage after he was attacked close to his Rackheath home.It happened at just before midnight on Wednesday last week.
It is understood the Broadland High School pupil was hit with a metal bar or pole.
He managed to crawl into his house in Sir Edward Stracey Road, where his distraught mother Joanne found him covered in blood and called an ambulance.
He stopped breathing in the ambulance and had to be put on a ventilator.
He was initially taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, but was then transferred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, which specialises in treating head injuries.
There, he was put into a coma while he was operated upon for two-and-a-half hours.
When he came out of the coma, he could barely speak, but progress since has been good.
On Monday, he returned home, to the relief and delight of his family.
His step-sister Micaela Robinson, 23, said: 'Still a long road to recovery, but now in the comfort of his own home.
'He's got a fractured skull and jaw which will recover in time, but mobility and speech are getting much better.
'Only time will tell now.'
And she paid tribute to the surgeons and staff at Addenbrooke's Hospital.
She said: 'My stepbrother looks incredible considering what happened to him.
'Literally, cannot thank all the doctors and nurses at Addenbrooke's enough for saving his life.'
A home in Back Lane in Rackheath was sealed off by Norfolk police the day after the attack.
Officers arrested a teenager in connection with the incident.
He was taken to Aylsham Police Investigation Centre to be questioned.
He has been released on police bail, to be answered in April next year.
Police want witnesses, or anyone with information, to call Norwich CID on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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