<p>The parents of a footballer left in a coma after being punched in Australia have released new footage of him ahead of his attacker's appearance in court this week.<br><br>Bed-ridden Danny Hodgson can be seen hooked up to hospital machines while gripping onto a stress ball in the video, as his family gently tap him on his arm and legs.<br><br>The 26-year-old suffered a fractured skull and brain haemorrhage following a single punch blow at Perth train station on September 5, last year.<br><br>Doctors then put the ex-Carlisle United youth player, from Cleaton Moor in Cumbria, in a medically induced coma as they struggled to treat bleeds on his brain and blood clots.<br><br>His parents Nicola and Peter flew out to be at his bedside during the intervening months and asked the public to “pray” and send “positive thoughts” for his recovery.<br><br>And over six months later, the new footage confirms that he is making steady progress following the horrific, unprovoked assault.<br><br>Nicola had earlier praised doctors treating her son at Royal Perth Hospital, before he moved into the next stage of his rehabilitation.<br><br>She said: "Despite his significant injuries, Danny spent every minute of those 82 days in Royal Perth fighting.<br><br>"He never gave up and the ICU doctors nicknamed him 'Ironman'.<br><br>"We are eternally grateful for the medical staff in ICU and the Trauma Unit who helped save Danny.”<br><br>In January, surgeons had also undertaken an especially risky operation to reattach a part of his skull, which had been removed last year to relieve pressure on his brain.<br><br>But the mum had later confirmed, to her great relief, that this had been a success. </p>
