A young dad who is fighting for his life in a coma had proposed to his girlfriend just days before being brutally attacked while on holiday in Tenerife.

Sarah Ferris said ‘yes’ after her boyfriend David Rose asked for her hand in marriage during a romantic getaway in Spain.

But two days later – on Sunday, April 24 – he was attacked by a group of young men outside the Tramps nightclub in the purpose-built holiday resort of Playa de las Americas at around 3am.

The 22-year-old father-of-one was in a coma battling pneumonia with his fiancee by his side as the Observer went to press.

David’s mum Davina Kirkwood, who lives with David and his two sisters, Bekca Rose and Abi Slateron, on Pilot Street in Accrington, said her son remains in a critical condition.

The 41-year-old, who arrived back in Accrington on Wednesday morning, said David had reacted to her being there just hours before she flew home.

"I know he reacted to me," she said. "He moved his eyebrow up and down when I touched him. He acknowledged me."

She added: "We are guessing he has septicemia but we are only guessing because the doctors are Spanish. When I was there they tried to wake him up but he got agitated so they sedated him again.

"But he’s fighting the infections, his head injuries are more stable and his kidneys are holding their own and they have removed some of the pneumonia from his lungs but not all of it which is why he’s still critical and in a coma.

"We’ve been through all the emotions. It’s heartbreaking. You get highs then lows and we can’t really sleep as we are waiting on a phone call at all times.

"He couldn’t be in better hands though. They are devoted to helping the patient."

David, a welder at Euro Transport Manufacturing Ltd in Water, Rossendale, who has a five-year old daughter Charli Donnelly, was rushed to Santa Cruz Hospital and was placed into a coma because of the swelling to his brain following the attack.

His family said a police investigation is on-going but there is no CCTV footage of what happened.

Last week Davina told the Observer that her son and Sarah were walking back to their hotel when a group of lads picked an argument with David before one of them punched him from behind causing him to fall to the floor.

A Foreign Office spokesperson added: "We are aware of the hospitalisation of a British national in Tenerife and consular assistance is being provided."