A drunken thug who left a west Cumbrian sports enthusiast with a devastating brain injury has been jailed for three years and four months.
Carlisle Crown Court heard a series of heart-rending accounts of how the unprovoked attack had affected the victim,  24-year-old Scott Kiggins, stripping him of his independence.
His attacker, 26-year-old Kevin Christian, admitted causing Mr Kiggins grievous bodily harm - the result of single and unexpected punch on a Whitehaven street.
Clare Thomas, prosecuting, outlined how Christian, of Jacktrees Road, Cleator Moor, had been out with friends in Whitehaven on July 7 last year after watching an England World Cup match in a local pub.
Christian had earlier seen Mr Kiggins in a local pub, where he too was out with friends.
The two men then met each other by chance at the New Street junction with Lowther Street, when Christian confronted Mr Kiggins, asking whether he had a problem with him.
Mr Kiggins said he did not, but admitted that he did not like Christian, said Miss Thomas. He also told Christian he did not want to fight him.
At this point, as Mr Kiggins tried to walk away, Christian punched him to the side of the face, knocking him out.
Mr Kiggins spent 13 days in intensive care, and needed an emergency operation to save his life after suffering a skull fracture. 
He also needed a second emergency operation for a brain bleed.
Surgeons had to fit a metal place to his head because part of his skull had to be removed to save his life, the court heard.
Commenting on the life-changing effects of the victim's brain injury, Judge James Adkin told Christian, who is also a keen cricketer: "The impact on Scott Kiggins and his family has been enormous.
"Their world has been torn apart by your drunken foolishness."