He Ruined My Son's Life In seconds

Nancy Shaw, 53, thought she had her son back, safe and sound

- Saskia Murphy And Tracy Gayton

Dropping his rucksack on the floor, my son ran through the arrivals hall of Heathrow Airport and scooped me into a hug. It was February last year – and, after two years travelling Australia, Joe, then 24, was finally coming home.

He felt so strong, healthy and full of life. Now, when I look back at that moment, it brings me to tears, because all that was snatched away in a few seconds of madness.

I’d raised Joe on my own, and the two of us were a team. So, in February 2016, when he announced he was going travelling, I knew I’d miss him like mad.

Joe was a trained plasterer, and when he flew to Australia a month later, he found work easily. He called every day – although, as his mum, I still worried. In fact, I remember physically shuddering when he said he was going bungee jumping. ‘Be careful,’ I warned him, picturing him flinging himself out of a plane. But he was having the time of his life, surfing, kayaking and rock climbing.

In November 2016, I travelled to Melbourne to visit, and as he Joe with Nancy before the attack showed me around his favourite shops and cafés, I realised my boy was all grown up. He’d flown 10,000 miles from home and made a life for himself, completely on his own. When I left two weeks later and returned to Ramsgate, I was brimming with pride.

Hospital dash

When Joe finally came home and moved back in with me 15 months later, I threw a ‘welcome home’ party for friends and family to hear about his adventures.

Joe took on some plastering jobs and, a few weeks on, on 16 March, he told me he was heading to Ramsgate for a night out. But at 4am, I woke up to my phone ringing. It was Joe’s dad.

‘Joe’s on his way to hospital,’ he said. ‘He’s been attacked.’