THUGS left a father-to-be in a pool of blood as they smashed him round the head with a glass bottle.

Isaac Sydenham, 23, was on his way home from the Block and Gasket pub in Burgess Hill on Sunday night when a gang of youths approached him.

Mr Sydenham was on the phone to his eight-month pregnant wife when one of the youngsters, aged about 15, barged into him.

When Mr Sydenham asked him to mind out, the yob, along with another four, began punching him.

He fought back, only to be struck with the bottle by one of the teens, leaving him unable to feel parts of his body.

Mr Sydenham, originally from Brighton, moved to Burgess Hill recently.

He told The Argus: “They couldn’t get me down or hurt me, so then they smashed a bottle over my head.

“I couldn’t feel my hands after, so I had to use Siri to phone a friend who lives nearby to come and find me.

“My vision kept going while I was lying on the ground in blood.

“For a moment, I thought I was going to die.”

His wife has also suffered terribly after the ordeal.

“My wife heard all of it,” Mr Sydenham said.

“She ran all the way from our house which is about ten minutes away.

“She was incredibly stressed and nearly had a panic attack when she saw me.

“She can feel bruising where the baby is. That’s not good.”

The attack happened at about 9.45pm in St Johns Road, and thugs were part of a group of around eight youths aged between 15 and 17.

The attacker who bottled Mr Sydenham was about 15, 5ft 6, of slim build and wearing a grey hoodie.

Mr Sydenham, a musician, was taken to the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath by a police officer after being told there was a two-hour wait for an ambulance.

Three days on from the bottling and pieces of glass were still coming out of his hair and ears when he washes.

“I had a CT scan because doctors were worried about my brain,” Mr Sydenham said.

“Amazingly, I didn’t need stitches, and they let me go early on Monday morning.

“My vision is still bad, I’ve got a nasty headache and I can’t move my face without pulling the lacerations, but I’m OK.

“Luckily my daughter will still have her dad.”

He was full of praise for medical staff at the hospital and the officer who drove him and his wife to Haywards Heath.

Mr Sydenham said: “I know the NHS is under so much stress with cuts.

“But the staff at the Princess Royal are absolutely remarkable.

“They were quick to treat me and the nurses were incredible.”

Police are now appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Detective Sergeant James Gwynne, of Sussex Police, said: “The suspect is described as being about 15, 5ft 6 to 5ft 9, slim and wearing a grey hooded top.

“We are appealing to anyone who might have been driving past and saw what happened.”

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or online at sussex.police.uk quoting serial 1109 of 11/02.