Family vigil for Sydney attack victim Jason Cierans

The family of Jason Cierans, who was seriously injured in an assault in Australia, were last night continuing their vigil at the hospital where he remained in a coma.

Declan and Stephanie Cierans face an anxious wait to see how well Jason, 29, responds to the emergency surgery he underwent after paramedics whisked him from the scene of the attack at Bondi Junction in Sydney early last Saturday morning.

Jason, originally from Gurranabraher in Cork City, was attacked after leaving a pub where he had enjoyed a night out with friends at the end of the working week.

It is believed he was punched as he crossed the road and fell to the ground, hitting his head. Doctors at St Vincent’s Hospital relieved pressure on his brain and placed him in a medically induced coma to stabilise his condition.

Shocked friends of Jason, several of whom witnessed the attack, yesterday paid tribute to the popular construction worker who has built up a wide circle of friends among Sydney’s vibrant expat community in his six years in Australia.

Posting their own photographs of him on Facebook, they remarked how Jason always had a smile on his face.

Fellow Cork native and Sydney resident, Kez O’Callaghan, wrote: “This man is a gent and too stubborn to let this keep him down. Stay strong buddy — we will be with you every step of the way.” Another fellow Cork man, Jay Healy, described Jason as “Jase the ace — a top, top man.” Another friend, Oliver Shields, wrote: “He’s a gentleman too —wouldn’t hurt a fly”

An unofficial fundraising drive to assist Jason, his parents and his younger brother, Jamie, who has travelled from Cork to Sydney, was started on social media over the weekend but the family said it had been set up without their knowledge and requested that it be discontinued.

Relatives in Cork have said they will make formal arrangements in the coming days for people who want to make donations.

A 30-year-old Argentinian man, Adrian Gabriel Martinez, was charged with recklessly causing grievious bodily harm to Jason and has been remanded in custody to make a court appearance on Thursday.