Man fights for life after punching door

A 21-year-old Tauranga man is fighting for life in hospital after he severed a major artery when he smashed his fist through a retired couple's window next door after they told him to be quiet early yesterday.
St John Ambulance staff said the man lost a massive amount of blood after he cut an artery in his arm. Medics could not find a pulse but he was revived by ambulance staff. He was rushed to Tauranga Hospital and then to Waikato Hospital, where he was described as being in a critical condition yesterday.
He was given just a 50 per cent chance of survival though his condition was described as comfortable today.
The retired couple, George and Joan Hurley, told the Bay of Plenty Times the ordeal at their Brookfield home had left them teary eyed, shaken and "sick in the stomach".
The couple, who are both in their 60s, moved to Lorna Place four years ago to retire from Waihi Beach. They described the small cul-de-sac as "quiet and friendly" but now they aren't so sure.
About 2am yesterday the pair were woken by loud music and voices from a neighbouring spa pool. Unable to sleep Mr Hurley went to the fence that divided the two properties and asked the neighbours _ aged between 16 and 22 years _ to quieten down.
He said he didn't get a response, so came back with a stick in hand, stood on the fence and used the wood to tap on the side of the spa pool.
One of the group, the 21-year-old man, appeared "really angry" and started yelling at Mr Hurley.
The "stocky" man, who the pair said lived at the house with his girlfriend, her sister and the sister's boyfriend, kept yelling, walked up to the fence and allegedly pushed Mr Hurley.
"He was really angry... he lunged at me and pushed me on my chest," Mr Hurley said.
Unhurt and sensing that the man was out of control, the 67-year-old walked briskly back to his front porch where his scared wife waited.
The "raving" man from next door than walked up the driveway, yelling obscenities.
"He was still aggro ... he came round and started shouting at the house. The other people were shouting at him to stop it," he said.
The couple ran into their house, closed a mesh door and then locked a thick glass one behind them.
By this stage Mrs Hurley was on the phone to police, while Mr Hurley stood between her and the door which the attacker stood behind.
"The way he was, he was crazy," Mrs Hurley said.
The man opened the first door, yelled and then smashed his fist through the door.
There was a loud smashing sound and glass and blood sprayed everywhere.
Mr Hurley was cut on the forehead and other areas of his face, although he received only minor injuries.
The offender, who was now clearly visible to the couple through the broken glass, started yelling again, apparently unaware of the blood gushing out his arm.
But within minutes he fell to the ground, unconscious, and in a pool of blood.
"He was standing there, you could see him through the hole in the glass," Mrs Hurley said.
"He collapsed... he was just lying there... in a pool of blood.
"He was standing there shouting once he'd punched it, then something happened and he was losing blood and that's when the girls came up. They were hysterical of course," he said.
By this stage, the man's three flatmates, including his girlfriend had rushed over.
One, who Mr Hurley said was 16 years old and heavily pregnant, grabbed a towel which she held over the cut and tried to keep the man awake.
When she became too tired, Mrs Hurley took over.
A man who lives in a flat under the house where the 21-year-old lives said he heard "yelling and screaming" early on Sunday morning.
Other neighbours said Lorna Place was overall quiet and everyone got along.
The Bay of Plenty Times went to the house where the man came from and has made frequent calls but has yet to receive a response.
Paul Green, who lives with his two young children and wife at the end of the street, said "everyone gets along together" on Lorna Place.
The 35-year-old electrician was having a few drinks with neighbours on Saturday night and didn't hear anything.
Mr Green everyone was surprised to see police cars outside the house at the end of the night.
Tauranga police could not comment on whether the man in hospital would face charges.