THE mum of a teenage son who died after a one-punch attack has paid tribute to him on what would have been his 30th birthday.
Kristian Thompson, of Burnopfield, County Durham, died after an unprovoked attack in the K2 nightclub in Consett in September 2010.
He suffered a severe brain injury after hitting his head and spent seven days in a coma.
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While he initially seemed to recover, his condition deteriorated before passing away in July 2011 at the age of 19.
Mum Maxine Thompson-Curl, who along with husband Anthony Curl set up One Punch North East in 2015 has campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness of the impact of one punch deaths.
His 30th birthday would have been on Saturday.
Maxine said: “Kristian being 30 would have been a big affair I bet.
“But that privilege was taken away from us and we’ve only been left with memories of our wonderful son, brother, grandson, nephew and friend
“We’ve been left to make changes to stop any family going through what we go through every day for nearly 11 years
“We set One Punch UK charity up to raise awareness of the devastation a one-punch assault can cause, to get it out there what that one action can do to a person and their loved ones.
“My boy should have been 30 having the best life and a fantastic party with his family and friends. My Kristian was hit because he didn’t have a cigarette”
"Hopefully our charity set up in Kristian’s name will have stopped this devastation from happening to many families."
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