By TONY WALL
Bashing victim Stephen Byrne has stunned his family and police by coming out of his coma, and pleased doctors say he has a reasonable chance of returning to a normal life.
Mr Byrne, a 37-year-old waiter at Cin Cin on Quay, was badly beaten in downtown Auckland after a night on the town two weeks ago.
At first it was feared he would die, and then that severe bruising to his brain would leave him a vegetable.
But Mr Byrne is now out of his coma, is sitting up, and can obey simple commands.
His neurosurgeon, Andrew Law, said Mr Byrne had been improving significantly each day in the neurosurgery ward at Auckland Hospital.
Asked if the severe bruising to his brain would affect his motor skills, Mr Law said: "I'm hoping he will be fine from that point of view. He has a reasonable chance of having a very good recovery."
If he did not have a tracheotomy he would probably be able to speak.
Mr Law said recovering from brain injuries could take up to a year. "He's on a very long road, but at least he's on it."
Mr Byrne would probably spend several weeks in hospital, then be sent to a rehabilitation clinic.
Mr Byrne's brother, Darryl Byrne, said yesterday that modern medicine had obviously saved his brother.
The officer in charge of the case, Detective Senior Sergeant Allan Boreham, said credit had to go to the shopkeeper who found Mr Byrne and called an ambulance."They got him to hospital within that first crucial hour."
Two men who have been charged with attempting to murder Mr Byrne will appear in the Auckland District Court again today.
Waiter's progress thrills doctors
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