A Bradford father told today how he is refusing to let doctors remove the feeding tube which has kept his paralysed son alive for more than eight years.

As parents and supporters of brain-damaged American woman Terri Schiavo wait for her to die after her life support was removed, Derrick Wilson has vowed to never let his son suffer the same fate.

Mrs Schiavo's case has gained worldwide attention after her parents lost a legal battle to get the feeding tube which keeps her alive reinstated by doctors.

Mr Wilson, 77, of Buttershaw, has revealed how consultants in Bradford asked him to consider making the same decision by ending his son's treatment to allow him to die.

Duncan Wilson, 47, has been in a vegetative state for almost ten years after an attack by muggers led to him suffering a severe asthma attack which starved his brain of oxygen.

He now relies on 24-hour care to keep him alive and consultants at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital have asked his father Derrick (correct) to consider allowing them to remove the feeding tube which keeps him alive.

But Mr Wilson says he can never give his consent for doctors to "starve Duncan to death".

He said: "It is like what is going on in America with Terri Schiavo. I feel so sorry for her parents.

"The consultants here suggested to me that we could stop his treatment but what that would mean is starving him to death.

"I can see recognition in his eyes. When I talk to him I can see him smile. Doctors say that is it is because I am a parent and I can see what I am looking for but I would challenge them to spend as much time as I do with him and then they would be able to see what my son is like."

Mr Wilson said consultants had asked him to consider ending Duncan's treatment after he was admitted to BRI in November last year because of problems with the wound around his feed tube.

For the last eight years Duncan has been living at Carlton Manor Nursing Home, in Manningham, where his father visits him almost every day.

He is in a persistent vegetative state which means he is paralysed and has suffered brain damage.

But Mr Wilson says he can tell that his son likes the nursing home which cares for him and can tell that he is distressed when he has to leave to go into hospital.

He said: "I dread the hospital visits because he always seems to come out in a worse state than when he went in."

He is given medication and nourishment through his feeding tube and also has a tube in his throat to help keep his trachea clear.

He used to be in a wheelchair but he is now largely confined to a bed.

Mr Wilson says doctors have asked him to consider his son's quality of life but he says nobody knows what his son is thinking or feeling.

He said: "Nobody understands the brain properly and we don't know what is going on in his mind. He could be having the life of Riley.

"When he is in hospital doctors say that you can see he is in distress but I say to them that all of their articulate patients are suffering through the distress and trauma of being in hospital as well but they can hide it. When Duncan is distressed he shows it."

Duncan had been a musician in a band and had been playing a gig in Derby on the night he was attacked. Two men had invited him back to their flat after the performance and attacked him for his money.

Duncan was an asthma sufferer and the ordeal triggered a severe attack which starved his brain of oxygen.

He was taken to hospital in Derby before being transferred to St Luke's Hospital, where he stayed for a year.

He was 39 when the attack took place in October 1996 and he is now 47.

Nobody was ever convicted for attacking his son because Duncan could not give a statement, said Mr Wilson.

He said: "I was very bitter to start with but you cannot be angry and bitter all your life.

"I feel sad that the lives of the people who did this to Duncan were such that they had to behave in this way. Duncan went on stage to entertain and to make people happy and all they could think of was depriving him of his money but in a way I feel sorry for them."

The bid to keep Terri Schiavo alive has won support from Christian pro-life campaigners in America who have mounted a vigil outside the hospital where she is expected to die within 48 hours.

Mr Wilson says he is not a religious man but what has happened to Duncan has made him value life more and made him a better person.

He said: "It makes you think about things differently. Duncan has fought through all this time. I would argue that when someone has shown the will to live through difficulties and has overcome tragedy then I think they deserve to live. They have earned the right to live."

Mr Wilson's sister died from cancer and he has been a widower since 2003 after his wife Joyce died from a stroke.

She had suffered with long-running health problems and dementia and had also been a resident at Carlton Manor Nursing Home.

Now Mr Wilson says he could not live with himself if he had to let his son die too.

Terri Schiavo had her feeding tube removed 11 days ago and has been without food and water since then.

Her parents have launched several appeals against the decision but they are not her legal guardians and her husband Michael Schiavo says he wants his wife to "die with dignity".

Mr Wilson said: "I am just sorry the parents are not her legal guardians. I heard the husband on the television say that she wanted to die with dignity but how does he know this? And what is dignified about being allowed to starve to death?"