Watch the video to find out more about this incident.
[rumble video_id=v5cdnn domain_id=u7nb2]
A 22-year-old almost died after being brutally beaten by a gang of men due to his sexuality.
Ryan Turner, from Preston, Lancashire, was getting back to his home from a usual all-nighter with friends when he was confronted and attacked by a gang of seven men.
The incident took place at 6.30 am.
According to a witness, the gang yelled at him ‘gays should die’ before attacking him from behind. Ryan fell to the ground, immediately losing consciousness but the brutes continued hitting him.
He woke up on a hospital bed hours after the attack.
The magnitude of brutality undertaken by the attacking men can be estimated by Ryan’s burst lip, swollen face and black eyes – as can be seen in the images circulating on the social media.
The incident is being investigated by the police as a case of hate crime.
“I was just walking home from a night out, minding my own business,” the 22-year-old said.
“There was a group of lads one of them started throwing gay slurs to me and my friends – you can tell I am gay just by the way I am.
“The man was saying ‘you should die because you are gay’ so I said ‘there’s no need for that, just stay away.’
“The next thing I know one, came up behind me and struck me. I fell to the ground then he stamped on my face and I was knocked unconscious.
“When I woke up in hospital, the doctors told me I could have died.”
Ryan said he has no memories of the time between getting beaten by the men and waking up on the Preston Hospital bed, hours after the incident took place.
His injuries could have been fatal if he were not provided immediate medical care following the assault, medics told him. A CT scan was done to rule out any possibility of internal injury, and he was given shots for pain relief.
The 22-year-old was discharged from the hospital after nine hours but his condition clearly indicates that it will take quite some time for him to recover.
Ryan has a public-facing job which means it will take him weeks to get in shape and return to his work.
The young man, who came out at the age of 15, said he has faced two attacks before this one in 2019 alone, all due to his sexual orientation.
Ryan was previously attacked two times before but was lucky enough to run away from the attackers at the time.
He said: “The two other times I managed to cover my face. The other two were by the same group.
“I’ve been contacted by three people all saying they have suffered homophobic attacks in Preston. I really don’t know what is causing this, it is just shocking.”
Speaking of the incident, a spokesperson for the police said: “We were called around 6.30 am following reports of an assault in Friargate, Preston.
“A man in his 20’s had been punched by another man close to McDonald’s.
“The offender then made off from the scene with two men and a woman. The victim was knocked unconscious suffering facial injuries.
“He later was taken to Royal Preston Hospital for treatment. The assault is being investigated as a hate crime and inquiries are ongoing.”