'Cameron was in constant agony'

TRAGIC DEATH SIX YEARS AFTER AXE ATTACK

- IMOGEN CLYDE-SMITH

A MAN who survived an axe attack was found dead six years after the brutal assault that shattered his life.

Cameron Brooksbank, 24, was found to have a mix of drugs in his system at the time of his death, but a coroner has concluded he did not intend to take his own life.

Cameron was 17 when he was attacked in the street in Rochdale in October 2017.

An inquest into his death at Rochdale Coroner’s Court yesterday heard he was devastated by the attack and never got over it.

Cameron, who was working as a tree surgeon, intervened in a road rage incident, attempting to restore peace. He was struck by an axe in the armpit and then on the wrist as he tried to shield his head.

His hand was partially reattached, but he then required a further five operations just to maintain 60 percent use of his arm. The attack and the trial that followed was later documented in the TV series The Detectives which followed Greater Manchester Police’s dedicated organised crime unit in Rochdale.