A MOTHER has made an emergency dash to Cyprus to be at her serviceman son's bedside after he was stabbed in an attack on the holiday island.

RAF Corporal Christopher Sweeney, 28, from Burnley, was today in a "serious but stable" condition after an emergency five-hour operation to remove part of his intestine.

He was visiting his brother Martin, who is in the Army, when he was assaulted.

Cpl Sweeney, who had been in Cyprus for only 24 hours, had been drinking with his brother in a restaurant in Vryssoules, near Ayios Nikolaos.

He left to walk home and was only 200 yards from his brother's house when he was attacked in the street at midnight on Thursday.

His mother Pat Pollard, of Oakwood Close, Lanehead, Burnley said: "He suffered a six to seven inch wound in his stomach and we have been told if it was inches either way he would have been dead.

"It was a completely unprovoked attack. "His brother lives in a very quiet area of Cyprus. We have no idea why it happened."

She flew from Manchester last night to be with her son who will be at Larnaca General Hospital for at least five days because he is too poorly to be moved to a military hospital.

Christopher returns to Burnley several times a year on leave and still has many friends in the area where he grew up.

Both Christopher and Martin, 29, who is also a corporal, attended St James, Lanehead, and Barden High schools before joining the RAF at 16.

Martin, who has been stationed on the Mediterranean island for two years, is married to Kerry and they are expecting their second child in November.

Christopher has been stationed in Holland for the past year. He has also served in Saudi Arabia and the Ascension Islands.

A spokesman for the British Forces in Cyprus said: "The assailant and the reason for the attack are unknown. The incident is being investigated by Cypriot police and British military police."

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