Friends of a Keighley teacher who is in a coma following an attack in Thailand say he is showing signs of recovery.

Adam Pickles, 40, has overcome pneumonia and a fever and is now breathing unaided, while he recovers from the attack, which left him needing emergency brain surgery.

It is now more than four weeks since father-of-one Adam, who was brought up in the Black Hill area of Keighley and then at Daleside Road, Riddlesden, was hit with a metal bar by an attacker.

He had only just recovered from a motorbike crash which also left him in a coma, missing the birth of his eight-month-old son Benjamin.

Mr Pickles’ best friend, Neil Clappison, 40, said following the latest incident: “We have had a couple of scary moments. He caught pneumonia and had a fever as well. But he has overcome both.

“He is now regulating his own body temperature and breathing 60 per cent unaided, so he seems to be getting better. He needs less and less support every day.”

Meanwhile, his friends – as well as strangers – have raised £33,000 for his continued care, the majority of which has been given by donors who have joined a group on Facebook.

Mr Pickles’ insurance company has also agreed to pay about ten per cent of the estimated £70,000 costs of hospital care and repatriation. His hospital care alone is £2,000 per day.

Mr Clappison, of Leeds, said: “I would imagine that most of the people donating have never met Adam but people are still getting involved. We are getting an awful lot of donations from strangers. We are finding it really overwhelming.”