A NINE-year-old left blind and brain damaged after his evil dad’s violent abuse has died in hospital with cops launching an urgent probe.
Bradley Nelson was left severely disabled and unable to walk, talk or feed himself after being attacked by his dad Darren Spreadbury at their home in Whitby, North Yorkshire, in April 2016 – when he was seven months old.
PABradley Nelson was left blind and brain damaged after violent abuse from father Darren Spreadbury[/caption]
Sharon Boocock, 44, with her son Bradley NelsonPA
The horrific abuse Bradley suffered was so violent that he went blind, and he was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
In 2018, his father was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment after scans revealed Bradley’s brain injuries had been caused by shaken baby syndrome – the name given to serious brain injuries resulting from forceful shaking of an infant or toddler.
Nine years later, North Yorkshire Police has opened a new investigation after Bradley sadly passed away at Scarborough General Hospital on October 22.
Bradley’s mother Sharon Boocock, a 44-year-old bartender who was at his bedside when he passed, said he was “always smiling and happy” despite his medical woes.
A fundraiser launched on GoFundMe by Sharon’s friends to help cover Bradley’s funeral costs has already raised more than £2,700 – where donors have described him as the “bravest little boy”.
“I got to sit with him for 10 minutes and then he had another massive cardiac arrest and they just couldn’t get him back,” Sharon, who lives with her three other children, told PA Real Life.
“He was unfortunately the victim of shaken baby syndrome at the hands of his own father.
“Bradley was blind because he shook him that hard, he snapped his optic nerve and he had a can of Coke’s worth of blood between his brain and his skull.”
The mother-of-four remembers waking up on April 6 2016 to her ex-partner Darren telling her Bradley had stopped breathing.
She rushed downstairs and started performing CPR before an ambulance arrived and Bradley was taken to A&E at Scarborough General Hospital.
The police were called after a CT scan revealed Bradley had suffered a brain injury doctors feared was caused by physical abuse.
“They asked me what happened and I said: ‘I’ve just been woken up and he’s not breathing, I don’t know, I’m not a doctor’,” said Sharon.
“When they said it was an unexplained, non-accidental head injury, I was like ‘what are you on about?’
“It actually took me a long time to believe that they were right.”
A few weeks later, Bradley’s father, Darren was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and handed a 10-year restraining order at York Crown Court on May 25 2018.
To this day, Sharon does not know what happened, but medical results show Bradley had 300ml of blood between his brain and skull and was shaken so hard that his optic nerve snapped – leaving him blind.
After the attack, Bradley, who was born “fit and well”, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and epilepsy.
“We needed 24-hour care because he was unable to walk, talk or feed himself,” said Sharon.
Because of the brain damage it was “unsafe” for Bradley to swallow, so in April 2021, age five, he underwent PEG surgery to insert a feeding tube into his stomach.
Unfortunately his bowels were damaged during the operation, and Bradley was rushed back to hospital a week later.
Doctors performed surgery to repair his bowels, but after the operation Bradley sneezed causing his wound to open up again.