Another French Tourist Beaten to Near Death!
Posted by te2ataria on July 21, 2009
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One minute, Anthony Cressend was really looking forward to “experiencing New Zealand”; the next, he knew he already had, as he spat out broken teeth out of his mouth.
New Zealand Police told him they would not investigate the attack, since he didn’t have a kiwi contact number.
“As soon as I said that [he did not have a New Zealand cellphone] the [officer] flipped over his book and said ‘Well we can’t call outside of New Zealand cell zone’,” said Emily Holloway, 24, his travel companion.
Anthony Cressend, a 27-yo Frenchman, was attacked by three strangers at a Northland campsite. He was violently beaten, repeatedly kicked-in teeth and left bleeding with a thrice-broken jaw.
“My teeth were in my mouth and I was … [demonstrates spitting into hand],” he told the nzherald.
Mr Cressend can only eat soup or processed food with a straw and is unable to open his mouth due to his broken jaw and teeth.
“I would like to make lots of sport here, but I can’t. I would like to have good souvenirs [memories] of New Zealand but I don’t.”
“He has metal plates fixed on to both gums – winched together with thick elastic bands – and three pins in his chin. Doctors could not put the plates near the breaks at the top of his jaw – for fear of damaging his ear drums.” Herald reported.
“If x-rays show his jaw has not set he will need reconstruction.
“Nerve damage to his face means he may never regain his old smile.”
Mr Cressend, and two friends, Ms Holloway and Thony Collomb, 29, arrived at the campsite where just yards away from their campervan he was set upon from behind last week.
“Mr Cressend spent the next three days going from hospital to hospital, winding up in the plastic surgery unit at Middlemore. He is on a cocktail of painkillers and antibiotics and has to be very wary of infection.”
“Even in Albania, which is really dangerous, we have never had this problem, even in Bolivia … They are just friendly with you and you don’t feel it’s dangerous,” Mr Collomb said.
The trio said they wanted to tell their story as a warning to other tourists.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10585713
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