Corkman Jason Cierans wakes from coma in Sydney

A Corkman who was in a coma for two weeks after an assault in Australia had just one question when he woke to find his emotional family around him: “What are you all doing here?”

Jason Cierans, 29, from Gurranabraher in Cork City, was left fighting for his life after the one-punch assault knocked him to the ground as he left a pub in Sydney where he has worked for the past six years.

His parents, Stephanie and Declan, and his younger brother, Jamie, made an emergency dash to Australia to be with him and have been maintaining a bedside vigil, desperately hoping for signs of improvement.

Their prayers were answered over the weekend as Jason slowly woke up and began questioning the hospital scenes around him.

His aunt, Fidelma Casey, said the family were thrilled. “The relief is unbelievable. We were actually jumping for joy,” she told Red FM. “All our prayers have been answered.”

She said Jason was very disorientated and had pain from the emergency brain surgery carried out after he was rushed to hospital.

“‘What are you doing here’ was the first thing out of his mouth,” she said. “First of all he couldn’t understand why he was in hospital and then he couldn’t understand why he was in ICU.”

She explained Jason still had brain swelling and needed more surgery so his recovery would take time.

Relatives and friends in Cork and Australia have rallied around the Cierans family and are fundraising to help them with Jason’s costs.

A fundraising page has been set up on the www. mycause.com.au site.

Already it has raised more than $17,000 — close to €11,000 — but his supporters in Sydney are hoping to double that amount.

A 30-year-old Argentinian backpacker, Adrian Martinez, has been charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm to Jason and is due back in court in October.