A 23-year-old man from Porthmadog has awoken from a seven-week coma following an unexplained road traffic incident.

On 8 May Owain Williams was driving on the A497 near Criccieth with his girlfriend when she reports that the car suddenly veered to one side.

The car hit a fence and a wooden post broke through the windscreen, hitting Owain in the head and causing significant injuries. His girlfriend Arianna miraculously came away with only minor injuries.

Despite suffering a traumatic brain injury and being given a poor prognosis by medical staff at Royal Stoke University Hospital where he had been airlifted, Owain awoke from a coma in Stoke Trauma Unit three weeks ago.

His family are now aiming to raise £4,500 to support his recovery.

Owain’s dad, Karl Williams, said: “Owain has woken from his coma and is opening his eyes. He is tracking us with his eyes and is, I’m certain, aware that we are there.

“It is continuing to be a very slow process, but we are hoping for a recovery of some sort.

“Myself, his mum and many of his family have been by his side every day since the accident, living in campervans parked outside the hospital.”

Two of Owain’s cousins, Cedri and Dion Roberts, this week attempted an epic endurance challenge to fundraise for Owain’s recovery.

At midnight on Thursday, 17 July, the pair set out to complete the Welsh Three Peaks Challenge - Pen y Fan, Cadair Idris and Yr Wyddfa/ Snowdon - in 24 hours.

The pair ran up Pen y Fan before cycling to Minffordd, running up Cadair Idris and cycling to Pen y Pass before completing their challenge by running up and down Wales’ highest peak - Snowdon.

The challenge involved 27km of mountain running across 2,071m of elevation, and 217km of cycling up 3,200m of elevation.

The money raised will go towards “easing the financial strain on Owain and his family” by helping to cover essential costs of rehabilitation, specialist care and accessibility support. So far £4,170 has been raised across 130 donations.

The fundraising page states: “[Owain’s] life changed in an instant, and the road to recovery is long, uncertain, and incredibly tough.

“Owain is a true adventurer.

“This challenge shares that adventure.”

This comes after the family successfully fundraised close to £17,000 to support them staying close to Owain.

Karl said: “The support from the local community has been astonishing.”

Police are still investigating what happened to Owain’s Volvo C30 that fateful evening.

A North Wales Police spokesperson said: “Police are appealing for witnesses, or anybody who may have been travelling in the area and who may have seen the vehicle being driven prior to the collision to come forward.

“They are particularly keen to speak to anybody who may have dash cam footage.”

Anybody with information is asked to contact officers at the Roads Crime Unit via the website or by calling 101, quoting reference number 25000381857.