THE family of a man who spent seven weeks in a coma after being mowed down outside a nightlcub has launched a fundraising campaign for the hospital unit which saved his life.

Richard Waters, suffered life-threatening injuries when he was hit by a car outside the Regal nightclub in East Oxford in August.

Doctors at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital did not expect Mr Waters to survive the accident, which caused injuries including bleeding on the brain, a broken pelvis and hip and a fractured cheek bone and eye socket.

At one point, they pondered whether to turn off his life-support machine – but the 52-year-old is now out of hospital and battling back.

Now Mr Waters’ three children and five grandchildren want to raise £5,500 to buy a new monitor for the hospital’s intensive care unit.

The vital piece of equipment measures the brain pressure of head injury and stroke victims to help doctors prevent brain damage.

Mr Waters’ daughter Laura said: “If it wasn’t for the intensive care unit, my dad wouldn’t be here so we want to try and raise as much money for them as possible.

“The doctors didn’t expect him to live, the injuries he had were so bad they talked about whether we should turn off the life support machine, but we said ‘no’ because we wanted to give him every chance to live.

“The doctors called him a miracle and the staff were excellent with him and with us.

“We can’t thank them enough.”

Despite his recovery Mr Waters, whose father Fred was on the board of Oxford United, has permanently lost the sight in his left eye and the hearing in his left ear and is undergoing speech therapy.

The injuries mean the grandfather of five from Ridgeway Road, Risinghurst, has had to give up driving and running his own building and carpentry firm, Downside Property, which has now been taken over by his daughter.

Ms Waters, of Kiln Lane, Risinghurst, said the hardest thing was seeing her father lose his independence and giving up his season ticket to watch his favourite club Manchester United.

However, the 30-year-old said that each day they have with their father is now a gift.

She said: “Dad’s getting better all the time but he’ll never be the same, he’s a lost a lot.

“He’s very different to the man he used to be but he’s here and we’re ecstatic about that and so grateful to the staff at the JR.

“We just want to find a way to repay the intensive care unit.”

A family fun day will take place at the Chequers Pub, in Beaumont Road, Headington, on Sunday, May 24.

In March, Mane McKenzie, of Brentwood Drive, Swinton, near Manchester, was jailed for nine years after he admitted causing grievous bodily harm and two charges of dangerous driving. When McKenzie aimed his vehicle at a crowd he hit Mr Waters, an innocent bystander.