The 'immense bravery' of tragic man who helped bring down Manchester gang

A man who was found dead six years after being viciously attacked with an axe has been commended for his 'immense bravery' in helping to bring down a criminal gang.

Cameron Brooksbank, 24, known by his loved ones as Cam, was tragically pronounced dead after being found unresponsive at an address in Middleton on June 18 of last year.

An inquest on Wednesday (May 15) found that a mix of both prescription drugs and cocaine were in his system when he died - but a coroner concluded that Cameron did not intend to take his own life.

READ MORE 'He would never get himself back..' Mum's heartbreak after 'brave' son found dead six years after horrific axe attack

His tragic death comes six years after the axe attack survivor was subjected to a brutal assault that he said 'completely changed his life' and meant he was no longer 'the same person'. At the time of the attack, Cameron was just a teenager working as a tree surgeon when he intervened in a road rage incident in Rochdale in 2017, attempting to restore peace.

But the attackers turned on him and he was struck by an axe in the armpit, and then on the wrist as he tried to shield his head from another blow. His hand was partially reattached, but then required a further five surgeries in the two years since the attack just to maintain 60 per cent use of his arm. The inquest at Rochdale Coroner’s Court heard he was 'devastated' by the attack and 'never' got over it.

Appearing last year on an episode of BBC crime documentary 'The Detectives', Cameron opened up about his mental health struggles after the brutal and violent assault.

“I woke up from the operation and thought everything like my career has gone down the drain,” he recalled at the time. “I had five operations and got