Man severely be@ten in h0mophobic att.@ck for wearing rainbow watch strap

A man was left with a brain bl33d after a stranger be@t him up in Wales for wearing a rainbow watch strap. Kaspian Oaken, 39, was listening to music while walking down a residential road in Barry when a man in a grey hooded tracksuit approached him. Without warning, the man began repeatedly punching Kaspian at about 6pm on February 1. Kaspian suffered a brain bl33d, skull fractures, a damaged eye socket and severe bruising that caused his face to double in size. All Kaspian was doing was heading to the shops along Court Road when he was assaulted, he said. He said: “It was very, very terrifying. There was that adrenaline burst and at the time you dont realise quite what has happened. It was a shock.” Kaspian said the incident was “terrifying”. He added: “I was just walking minding my own business keeping my head down. He just comes up to me and starts hitting me in the face. After a few punches I just fell to the ground and he ran off. “I managed to get up and then I was freaking out obviously because I was covered in blood. “I carried on walking a little bit until my legs buckled and I just fell. I couldnt move my legs for some reason. I just had to sit there. “Its a possibility [it was a hate crime] but its not like I was advertising it. “I was dripping with blood but still thinking: ‘I need to carry on what Im doing’.” Kaspian believes that the LGBTQ+ Pride Apple Watch strap he was wearing was possibly why he was attacked. But given it was dark, he remained unsure. According to Apple, the rainbow strap was designed to show “the strength and inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community”. Kaspian was driven home by two concerned strangers but collapsed, so phoned 999 and was taken to A&E. He said: “My right eye is very, very damaged Its a lot of bruising. A lot of bumps from where the skull has been impacted. [My face is] double its usual size. “If the injuries were worse it couldve been life-threatening. It was very close to being more brain-damaged because of the brain bleed.  “They kept having to test my memory and things like that just to make sure it wasnt affecting my actual cognitive function. The damage to the brain is very serious obviously.” Kaspian says his scars are mental as well as physical, adding that he flinches whenever he sees someone in a grey tracksuit. “Its not just scary for me. Its thinking, ‘if they could do it to me and get away with it, then there are other people out there who could be victims in the future’,” he said. The police said in a statement: “We are investigating an assault on a 39-year-old man which occurred on February 1. “The assault happened as the victim walked along Court Road at around 6pm. He suffered serious facial and head injuries which required hospital treatment. “The person responsible has been described as being a 6ft 1in, white male who was wearing a full grey tracksuit, with a hood.” The post Man severely be@ten in h0mophobic att.@ck for wearing rainbow watch strap appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.