Ryan Ball's life changed forever when gatecrashers burst into a party in February. Photo / Facebook
The last thing Ryan Ball remembers of his old life was turning the music down at a party and thinking it was time for everyone to go.
It was minutes after that moment on February 26 when the Perth man's life changed forever. As he started to wind down the school ball after-party he was hosting he was allegedly king hit in the face when gatecrashers invaded his family home.
The 38-year-old was left in a critical condition with head wounds so severe doctors placed him in an induced coma to give him the best shot at survival.
Doctors kept him in the coma for more than a fortnight as his family watched and waited, hoping he would pull through. The early signs weren't good.
There was bleeding on the part of the brain that controls motor skills and other vital functions, and he struggled when they tried to bring him out of the coma. All they could do was hope for a miracle, but they were told to expect the worst.
It finally happened in late March, when brother Leon Ball noticed his hand twitch. Nurses then saw him blinking.
Ball can't recall the moment he first opened his eyes in Royal Perth Hospital and realised what had happened. It wasn't a case of waking up after a very long sleep - his coma recovery came over many days.
"When I came out, I still didn't know what had happened," he told news.com.au. "It's only really hit me now.
"For a while, I didn't know what the fuss was about."
He knew he was in hospital, he knew he was injured, but didn't know what had caused it. "I can't even remember asking [his family] what happened," he said.
Eventually he recalls seeing his mum Maureen and brother next to his bed - they barely left his side when he was comatose - and a doctor telling him he could stand up and try to walk.
He got out of hospital about 10 days ago. "It was good to get home, just to be out of the hospital and back around familiar things," he added.
As grateful as he was to the doctors and nurses who saved his life, he was glad to be away from them.
"Being around the hospital just sort of reminds you about everything that has happened," he said.
But returning home meant going back to the place where the party was hosted and his life changed in an instant. "Being at home, being in the house, the street where it happened, is a bit raw."
The property where he was attacked has been in the family for decades. His parents built it and he and his siblings grew up there. It has now added a much darker chapter to the family history.
"The night is still a blur," he said. "All I remember is turning off the music and basically that's all I remember of the night. I don't know why I walked out the front, or anything like that. I don't know what happened out the front. It's all a big blur to me at the moment."
The last conversation he had was with the teenage daughter of his friend, for whom he was hosting the party. "I said, you can be proud of yourself, you've had a good party, and then basically knew it was time for the music to go off."
That's when as many as 15 gatecrashers rushed on to the property, clambering over fences to get in. Party guests told of chaos as the intruders began "jumping the fences from all four sides".
Police have charged 18-year-old Kaide Travis Maslin with causing grievous bodily harm to Ball, as well as assault occasioning bodily harm after he allegedly broke the jaw of a 17-year-old partygoer.
Maslin, who has pleaded not guilty, was granted bail on his second attempt in March despite police fears he might try and flee to Indonesia.
Magistrate Joe Randazzo told him he was on "a strict leash" and "if you sneeze the wrong way you might find yourself losing your freedom".
Despite the frustrating memory blanks, Ball was trying to piece together his life. But even in the most unlikely places he was reminded of how he had changed.
"It's great to be home, but when I'm out in crowds ... I was out the other night and went to the toilet and I was watching my back the whole way, just stuff like that."
He tried not to let negative thoughts dominate his thinking. But they creep in now and then.
"I'm trying to get all my thoughts straight and get through the stuff in front of me at the moment."
Counselling to help with the mental scars the attack has left had already begun. "I had the follow up with the hospital [on Monday] and there is lots of rehab and therapy and stuff to go through yet. I think I do need more now. It's more 'in the head' stuff."
When he returns to the hospital for tests he meets some of the medical staff who cared for him. "They've all come out to see me and can't believe I'm walking and talking."
In the days after the attack doctors warned his family they could not say for sure if he would wake up again. Or in what state.
There are problems. His ability to taste and his sense of smell are gone, and may never return, and he gets crippling headaches. He has to take a cocktail of drugs daily, and his body tells him when it's time to take his pills.
"I know when it's time to take the medication because my head starts hurting," he explained.
His sleep has also been disrupted. Most nights he lies awake at 2am. He wants to sleep but can't.
Despite all that, and despite the fact he was assaulted in the first place, Ball told news.com.au he felt lucky. "I don't understand, why me? All the nurses have said there must be someone sitting up there looking after me. I was just very, very lucky."
Is he angry?
"You have those moments. 'Why did it happen to me?' It shouldn't have happened. All the s***, it's put on everyone, not just me. All for what was a small little moment, you can change someone's life for the worse."
No matter the outcome of the court case, it has altered the lives of everyone involved. "It's ruined many lives, our lives and their lives as well."
He hoped his experience would serve as a wake up call for everyone about the consequences of their actions.
"I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else. For what we have been through ... I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
Looking ahead to the court case, Ball said he doesn't want to go to court to see the accused.
"I don't even want to see this guy. At the moment, I don't want to go."
Something else he hasn't been able to do is look closely at the confronting images of himself in hospital. They show him fastened to a bed, a neck brace on and with tubes down his throat.
"It doesn't seem real. That part I don't feel or remember. I've only seen that one picture, I haven't been back on social media yet. I just feel lucky to be alive."