Man left with bleeding brain after being beaten for wearing rainbow Apple Watch

A man was left with a brain bleed after a ‘cowardly stranger’ beat him up in Wales – and all for wearing a rainbow watch strap.

Kaspian Oaken, 39, was listening to music while walking down a residential road in Barry when a man in a grey hooded tracksuit approached him.

Without warning, the man began repeatedly punching Kaspian at about 6pm on February 1.

Kaspian suffered a brain bleed, skull fractures, a damaged eye socket and severe bruising that caused his face to ‘double’ in size.

All Kaspian was doing was heading to the shops along Court Road when he was assaulted, he said.

He said: ‘It was very, very terrifying. There was that adrenaline burst and at the time you don’t realise quite what has happened. It was a shock.

Kaspian added: ‘I was just walking minding my own business keeping my head down. He just comes up to me and starts hitting me in the face. After a few punches I just fell to the ground and he ran off.

‘I managed to get up and then I was freaking out obviously because I was covered in blood.

‘I carried on walking a little bit until my legs buckled and I just fell. I couldn’t move my legs for some reason. I just had to sit there.

‘It’s a possibility [it was a hate crime] but it’s not like I was advertising it.

‘I was dripping with blood but still thinking: “I need to carry on what I’m doing”.’

Kaspian believes that the LGBTQ+ Pride Apple Watch strap he was wearing may be why he was attacked. But given it was dark, he remains unsure.

According to Apple, the rainbow strap was designed to show ‘the strength and inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community’.

The unemployed Barry local was driven home by two concerned strangers but collapsed, so phoned 999 and was taken to A&E.

He said: ‘My right eye is very, very damaged… It’s a lot of bruising. A lot of bumps from where the skull has been impacted. [My face is] double its usual size.

‘If the injuries were worse it could’ve been life-threatening. It was very close to being more brain-damaged because of the brain bleed.

‘They kept having to test my memory and things like that just to make sure it wasn’t affecting my actual cognitive function. The damage to the brain is very serious obviously.’

A significant blow to the head can cause a brain haemorrhage, also called a subdural haematoma, when blood leaks into the space between the skull and the brain. The clogged-up blood applies pressure onto the brain, damaging it.

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes have surged by 112% in the last five years. In the year ending March 2024, there were 22,839 reported hate crimes involving a person’s sexual orientation, and 4,780 transphobic crimes.

LGBTQ+ campaigners say that while the rate fell slightly compared to the year before – 8% – violence and bigotry against the queer community in Britain has become ‘part of daily life’.

Kaspian says he is struggling to find work while recovering as he is too bruised to attend interviews. He has launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help cover his bills, grocery delivery feeds and public transport costs.

‘When you have £20 in your bank because you don’t have a job, it’s a challenge,’ he said.

Kaspian’s struggles don’t end there. His scars are mental as well as physical, saying that he flinches whenever he sees someone in a grey tracksuit.

‘It’s not just scary for me. It’s thinking, “if they could do it to me and get away with it, then there’s other people out there who could be victims in the future”,’ he said.

The police said in a statement: ‘We are investigating an assault on a 39-year-old man which occurred on February 1.

‘The assault happened as the victim walked along Court Road at around 6pm. He suffered serious facial and head injuries which required hospital treatment.

‘The person responsible has been described as being a 6ft 1in, white male who was wearing a full grey tracksuit, with a hood.’

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