Dad dies on lads holiday 'of a lifetime' and family still have no answers
A beloved dad died after he was viciously assaulted during a lads "trip of a lifetime" to Benidorm, with his family still scrambling to find answers.
Mike Rydings, then 47, travelled to the Spanish resort town of Benidorm for a lads holiday and had been watching the 2018 World Cup when he was attacked by a group of five or six men in the early hours of June 23. The builder from Wythenshawe suffered a broken nose and fell to the ground, hitting his head and sustained horrific injuries. He spent a month unconscious in hospital with his daughter and sister Nicola flying to be with him as he was hooked up to ventilator machines and fighting for his life.
After he returned to the UK, Mike was taken to Salford Royal Hospital and spent a year of his life in a vegetative state. He required around the clock care and was unable to move or speak before his death in August 2019, aged just 48.
Mike's killers have never been found. There are no witness accounts and police enquiries turned up no suspects.
Speaking on what would have been Mike's 54th birthday, his daughter Hayley said the family spent years "unable to have closure without answers" as they issued another desperate appeal for information.
"You can't ever really move on, because you don't have any answers," Hayley told Manchester Evening News. "It's been years and we haven't been told anything.
"At the time, there were so many different witness stories. At one point we were told it was a stag party and someone in camouflage clothing. Then we were told it was a bouncer.
"One stated that, the night he was attacked, my dad had a drink and was seen backing off with his hands in the air when he was punched to the nose, which broke, and then he fell backwards onto his head. They said they have never been able to get the sound of him hitting the ground out of their head."
Mike had been with a group of friends in Benidorm when the lifelong Manchester United fan became separated in the Hippodrome Bar. He then became involved in a dispute with another group which ended with him being knocked to the ground and suffering catastrophic head injuries.
Spanish police concluded their investigation without prosecuting anyone. As part of the investigations carried out by Greater Manchester Police, detectives interviewed more than 15 English tourists who were out on the night of the attack.
Detectives were able to establish the man suspected of assaulting Mike was a white man aged in his 20s or 30s with a larger than average build, about 5ft 7ins to 6ft tall, who was possibly wearing camouflage clothing.
Hayley, 36, added: "My dad's partner at the time got the call from one of his friends to tell her what had happened. When you hear that, you still never think it will be as bad as what we walked into.
"When I first saw him in the hospital and he was lying there with tubes everywhere it was so painful I had to walk back out.
"I was pregnant with one of my daughters, and I flew out the next day with my partner. Between me and Nicola his sister we kept going back and forth to make sure he was never on his own. It was so hard on us all. I had a young child at the time too, so it was really difficult."
Anyone with information should contact the Greater Manchester Police Major Incident Team on 0161 856 6777 quoting Operation Thurston. Details can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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