A talented teenage rugby player is lucky to be alive after he had to be rushed to hospital in Cyprus when his throat was slashed in an apparently unprovoked attack.

Isaac Brown, 19, of Eccleshill, Bradford, had to have four hours of specialist surgery in a private hospital after his throat was cut from behind his ear to beneath his jaw.

He needed a blood transfusion and oxygen and is still detained in hospital a week after the attack.

Now his mother, Wendy Smith, is in a race against time to raise the 7,500 Euros, more than £6,000, to pay for his treatment, because he was not fully insured.

Isaac, an Academy player with Super League club Huddersfield Giants, was injured within hours of arriving at the coastal resort of Ayia Napa for a holiday with friends.

Mrs Smith, 43, of Thornbridge Mews, Eccleshill, said: “From what I have been told they had gone into the centre for a look round. There was some sort of carnival event going on and they were very jolly.

“They heard a commotion and Isaac’s friends suggested they moved away.

“One of them found Isaac collapsed on the ground with blood everywhere. Someone had slashed him from behind with a bottle, they think it was locals.

“He was losing a lot of blood and his friends flagged down a passing ambulance. It was a private ambulance and it took him to a private hospital. That same evening specialist surgeons worked on him for four hours. He had a haemorrhage and needed a blood transfusion. He was on oxygen for a couple of days.”

She added: “Isaac is not a troublemaker and he would want to keep well away from any trouble.”

Mrs Smith said she had spoken to the surgeon yesterday and he had told her Isaac was lucky to be alive.

She said: “He said it was a very bad injury and Isaac had lost so much blood he could have died. He said a bottle had been used to inflict the injury and the glass had gone straight into his neck.

“He is in a lot of pain and is on painkillers. He is very weak and can’t talk properly, but he is stable and on the way to recovery and I am hoping he will be fit enough to fly home when he is due to next week.”

Isaac had an existing combined insurance policy, but it did not cover him for the treatment.

His mother highlighted their plight on Isaac’s Facebook site and family and friends have been rallying round to raise money.

Mrs Smith said: “Everyone has been so kind. The cost of the treatment should have been 8,500 Euros but Thomas Cook managed to get that reduced by 1,000. The insurance covers about £1,400 and we’re having to find the rest.

“People who didn’t know Isaac have made donations. Friends have just been coming to the house with money and two night clubs in Bradford, Revolution and Tokyo’s, are holding fund-raising events. The community of Bradford has been fantastic and we owe them a big thank you. But we still need to raise more to pay for the treatment.”

She said that the Huddersfield Giants had promised to visit their young hooker when he returns home.

Damien McGrath, the Giants’ head of youth performance, said: “We were shocked when we heard the terrible news. You would never put him in the category of being a troublemaker or someone who would get himself in bother. He is genuinely a nice lad.”

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed Isaac had been hospitalised in Ayia Napa and said: “We are providing Consular assistance.”