The parents of a teenager left in a coma after an attack outside an Oxford nightclub spoke today of his "miracle" recovery.

David Whitcher back home from hospital with parents Maureen and David after being attacked in Oxford

Maureen and John Whitcher feared their son David would not wake from a coma after suffering a fractured skull and brain haemorrhage.

Now, three weeks after the attack, 18-year-old David is back home and has vowed to continue his plans to become a dentist and return his life to normal.

David, of Gatehampton Road, Goring, was hit from behind outside Bar Med, in St Ebbe's Street, Oxford, on September 22.

After emergency neurosurgery, he was in a coma in intensive care at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, for ten days.

Mrs Whitcher, a tax consultant, said they were warned that his speech, mobility and personality could be permanently affected if he woke. She said: "He is very lucky and we are absolutely euphoric, considering what the situation could have been.

"We just think it may be a miracle because so many people have said prayers for David all over the country.

"Maybe it's the power of prayer, together with the fact that everything that could have been done for him was done so quickly."

Family and friends kept a bedside vigil, reading David well-wishers' messages and playing music by one of his favourite bands, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and recordings by the group he formed with friends.

Gradually, he started to react, first squeezing his brother James's hand and finally waking on the tenth day. Two days later, he was alert and in a wheelchair.

The family said hospital staff were surprised by his speedy recovery.

David said: "They told me I could have been in hospital for a year. The hospital couldn't believe it. Some of the nurses were in tears."

David, a former pupil at Chiltern Edge School near Henley and Reading School, has been left with a six-inch scar on the side of his head where surgeons operated to remove blood clots and splintered bones in his brain.

During his hospital stay, he agreed to take part in a research study of head injuries. He will continue to attend outpatients' appointments for tests and a district nurse will visit him to dress his wounds.

But he is determined to improve his speech and concentration, and fulfil his dream of going to university to study dentistry. He has passed A levels in chemistry, biology and physics, and universities have given him extra time to submit his application.

He said: "I was taking a gap year before I went to university. I've got a year off so I'm just going to carry on and see how long it takes to get back to normal.

"I talk to my friends about it, especially those who were there, and ask them what happened. But I don't think they like to talk about it as much as I do. I'm just trying to come to terms with it now."

Mrs Whitcher said: "The neurosurgeons said he was in the deepest level of coma before the operation and David is just one of a number of people attacked each year. This lowlife could have stopped David doing dentistry and stopped him driving. We are just so positive that he can do all that now."

David's father John, a retired electronics lecturer, praised hospital staff. "David has always been a quiet, relaxed person. He had all his future in front of him and that all stopped. Even by hospital standards, he has made a very rapid recovery. We are very lucky."

A 22-year-old man has been questioned by police in connection with the assault and released on police bail until tomorrow (October 15).