Jason Cierans' mother tells how her world was turned ‘upside down’ after he was attacked

A mother yesterday spoke of her world being turned upside down after her son was left in a critical condition after sustaining head injuries in an assault in Australia.

Jason Cierans was in a coma for several weeks following brain surgery after being attacked in Sydney.

His mother Stephanie Cierans said she had experienced a rollercoaster of emotions over the last three months since the attack on her 29-year-old son.

“It hasn’t actually sunk in with me yet. The whole experience is still very raw,” she told the RTÉ Ryan Tubridy Show.

Mr Cierans, from Mount Nebo Avenue in Gurranabraher, on Cork’s northside, had been hospitalised on August 22 after the attack outside a pub at Bondi Junction in Sydney.

Living in Australia for the past six years, he spent several weeks in the intensive care unit at St Vincent’s Hospital after medical teams in Australia put him in an induced coma.

His mother arrived home in Cork with her son last Wednesday and revealed, yesterday, the road to recovery may take up to two years.

“His memory isn’t great but they say that should come back within two years. He gets very fatigued and irritable too because things he once took for granted can sometimes take a little bit longer to do.”

Ms Cierans said Jason is very uncertain but the family is confident, over time, they will have the real Jason back. We had to let the old Jason go and get to know the new Jason because he has different mannerisms.

“His personality is the same but he’s just a bit unsure of himself and his confidence is shook but that will all come back in time.

“It will take time but when the old Jason and the new Jason meet we’ll have him back,” she said.

Recalling the Friday night she received the news her son was in hospital Ms Cierans said it was the type of news every parent dreads.

“Honest to god it was the worst nightmare ever, and still is,” she told the radio show. After speaking, on the night, to hospital officials who confirmed her son needed brain surgery immediately Ms Cierans was told to make her way to Australia as soon as possible.

“I asked was his condition good or bad and they said ‘well, Stephanie, it’s not when can you get here or how soon can you get here, it’s get here now’,” she said.

Less than 24 hours after gardaí informed her that her son was in a critical condition in hospital, Ms Cierans, her husband Declan and their younger son Jamie were on a flight to Sydney to be by Jason’s beside.

Ms Cierans said the image of seeing her son lying in a hospital bed in St Vincent’s will never leave her.

“I don’t want anyone to have to go through what we went through. He was just hooked up to so many machines and he was so swollen,” she said.

Jason Cierans at the celebration party with family and friends at the Commons Inn, Commons Road, Cork, following his return home after the serious assault in Australia.

Shortly after the family arrived at the hospital, Jason was anointed by a priest and given hours to live. “We just talked, prayed and begged him to wake up.”

Her prayers were answered and Ms Cierans says she “can’t even put into words” the unexpected, but miraculous, recovery of her son who woke from the coma two weeks later.

“He woke up one Sunday morning. Declan, myself and Jamie were in the room and he saw us, and he just said: ‘What are you all doing here?’

“I didn’t know how he was or how he was going to be afterwards but it didn’t matter. He was alive.”

Ms Cierans said hearing her son speak was “the best moment of my life”.

Looking to the future, she said all her son wants is to return to Sydney. He has assured the family the incident will not change the way he felt about living in Australia.

“It will be a very strong move for him because Australia is where his life is, so I think it will be good for him to go back,” she said.

Ms Cierans said her son believes he “was in the wrong place at the wrong time” when the attack occurred. It had been reported Mr Cierans had been punched as he crossed the road and fell to the ground hitting his head.

Adrian Martinez, an Argentinian national, remains on bail in Sydney in connection with the alleged assault. The 30-year-old had been charged with causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Cierans outside the Tea Gardens pub in the eastern suburb of Bondi Junction.