A grieving son believes his father was “put in an early grave” after being attacked by teenagers who left him lying helpless in the rain.
Raymond Foreman, 73, was walking home to his flat in Herne Bay when he was targeted by thugs near the seafront.
The youngsters kicked his walking stick away from him, running off laughing as the pensioner fell into a brick wall, tearing tendons in his back.
It would be 30 minutes before the taxi driver was helped to his feet by a passerby on a cold and wet evening last December.
Following the incident, he struggled to walk again and was left largely bedbound until his death from a clogged artery in his leg less than two months later.
His son, Andrew, says he died while crawling to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
He says the injuries his dad suffered sparked a sharp deterioration in his health, and he holds those who inflicted them responsible.
“Their actions had much more consequence than they realised; they put my father in an early grave,” the 31-year-old said.
“They did damage that was inconceivable. Even if it was his time soon, which it didn’t feel like it was, they hit the fast forward button on that ten-fold.
“Before the incident he was still moving, he was showing optimism, he was excited to see his grandchild again.
“All that got taken away because some kids thought it would be funny to swipe a cane-dependent man’s support away.
“And then to run off laughing – I mean, come on, who does that? It’s disgusting.
“Those last moments for him must have been absolutely unbearable, and it’s something that plagues me and my mother’s mind non-stop to this day.”
Andrew says his father downplayed the incident at the time and did not report it to police, while his own efforts to secure CCTV of the attack were unsuccessful.
Despite the lack of evidence, the Foreman family were grateful to those who offered information, but it soon became apparent Raymond would need extra help to get back on his feet.
As someone who “hated sitting around”, Andrew says being confined to his bed severely impacted his dad’s mental health, though he had remained hopeful of recovering.
Days before he died, the family had an appointment with a physiotherapist, with Raymond’s stubborn determination to overcome his injuries driving him forward.
“He was immobile pretty much after the attack; he could barely sit”, said Andrew.
“When he wasn’t of use, his mental health just plummeted.
“I honestly don’t believe – and he’s been through a lot of stuff – that he had been any lower than he had been in that moment.
“When I saw him at a chapel of rest for the last time, he was withered down to nothing.”
Raymond was described by his family as a very reserved man, but with a heart of gold and a strong work ethic.
He ran his own business, J Cars Airport Services, for more than 30 years, having previously worked as a window fitter and served a stint in the Army – a period of his life he seldom spoke about.
Having lived in Herne Bay for the vast majority of his life, Raymond became well-known as a cabbie but very rarely was seen elsewhere, with Andrew noting his naturally introverted manner made him “a bit of a homebody”.
“You would never catch him in places like a pub with friends or going to the cinema or anything like that,” explained the dad-of-one.
“But everyone who knew him knew where to find him, and if they gave him a call, if they needed help with something, he wouldn’t hesitate. He was quite selfless.
“He sacrificed a lot for his kids, knowing that he could have been a better father in terms of presence, but everything he did working-wise and sacrificing stuff for himself, he did for the better good of his family.
“He deserved a lot better, he deserved more.
“Dad wasn’t perfect by any means, but he taught me so many things to be a good person for society, as well as being hardworking and stuff like that.”
Andrew shared his father’s story following a heated meeting last week to address issues of anti-social behaviour in the town.
At the packed gathering, residents and businesses laid bare the problems they have faced at the hands of “wannabe gangsters”, including supermarket staff being assaulted and animals being shot with catapults.
Andrew – who now lives in Denmark – said it saddened him to learn through KentOnline’s coverage how prevalent the issues are.
“I feel like I’ve missed something since being away, like there has been a takeover. Who’s come in and decided this is how Herne Bay and the neighbouring areas should be?” he said.
“People’s actions don’t seem to have consequences anymore. I don’t understand where it’s all gone wrong.
“I lived in Herne Bay from the moment I was born till the moment I left when I was 23 years old, and it was a great childhood.
“Nostalgia is what it is, but when I came back, I didn’t recognise the place.”
At the meeting at the King’s Hall, police pledged to deploy more officers in the town.
It is expected that more than 20 new staff will work from Herne Bay police station, ranging from patrols to child-centred community safety officers.
