Hero mum steps up her recovery

Lucy Knight walks with her son Max every day. Photo / Doug Sherring

Lucy Knight takes another incredible step forward in her recovery today when she lines up in a fun run along Auckland's waterfront.

The mother-of-six, who was seriously hurt coming to the aid of a bag snatch victim in September, will be pounding the footpaths during the Skechers Women's 6km event.

Knight entered before she was attacked and her participation today seemed unthinkable as she lay in hospital with severe head injuries just seven weeks ago.

Still nursing wounds from a recent operation to reinsert a section of her skull removed to ease pressure on her swollen brain, 43-year-old Knight saw the short distance event as an ideal starting point towards regaining her "normal" life.

"It's really huge," she told the Herald on Sunday. "A lot of people are asking me 'Are you sure you want to do this?'

"It does mean a lot to me in that I am feeling well enough to do it and what has happened won't stop me. And I want the kids to see me doing it. Although it's going to take a long time to get back to feeling completely normal, it's a great starting point."

Knight is under doctor's orders to walk the circuit.

"The doctor said I should be fine so long as I don't head-butt anyone," she joked.

Knight had signed up to do the race several months ago after joining a "Yummy Mummy" fitness group on the North Shore.

She ran her first 5km race just three weeks before the attack and was enjoying a new level of fitness. Now she is determined to claw back what she lost because of her head injury.

She said the restorative head surgery came earlier than she anticipated - a week after she returned home to her family - which meant preparation for today's event had been limited.

But Knight said she was making the most of her physiotherapy sessions and had managed to get out with youngest son, 2-year-old Max, in the pushchair each day.

Knight said she would be supported on the race by close childhood friend Pippa Jinks and was especially looking forward to donning a voodoo doll-style costume for the occasion.

Knight's attacker, 17-year-old Hendrix Hauwai, has pleaded guilty to assaulting her and attempting to steal another woman's bag and will be sentenced next month.