Injured toddler begins long fight

SLOWLY WAKING: Masterton toddler Caleb Skinner, 2, shown here last year in good health, is slowly responding to his parents as doctors bring him out of an induced coma. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

It's "one day at a time" for Masterton toddler Caleb Skinner as doctors slowly bring him out of an induced coma.

The injured 2-year-old, who was allegedly assaulted by a friend of his mother on Monday, at a George St home, was airlifted to Starship Hospital in a drug-induced coma to help to relieve pressure and ease the bleeding on his brain.

Caleb's parents, Daryll Skinner and Joanne Smith, were told by doctors they feared he may succumb to his injuries.

He's not out of the woods yet.

However, on Wednesday just before 8pm doctors decided to slowly reduce the drugs to wake him for an MRI scan and take him off the breathing machine.

His Dad said that Caleb had recognised them and was responding well.

"He fought them. It was a struggle to hold him down. He's such a battler."

Doctors weren't able to say how much brain damage Caleb had sustained yet but his brain was still bleeding with a build-up behind the eyes making it difficult for the toddler to see at this stage, Mr Skinner said.

"His eyesight isn't 100 per cent. It's all blurry and they won't know until all the blood is gone if it is permanent or not ... he's very groggy and sleeping a lot.

"The first thing he said was 'Mum' and 'Dad' and wanted a cuddle. He zonked out and went to sleep in my arms ... It's hard for him to talk. He's a bit gaggly, like wheezy," Mr Skinner said.

He waits for the day his son is fully recovered so they can return to Masterton.

"It is great he has come this far but there is a long way to go before he is out of the woods. We don't want to rush anything.

"It's just going to be one day at a time ... I just want to spend as much time as I can with him."

Hearing two trust funds had been set up to help the family, Mr Skinner said he was stunned by the support they had received and hoped people would also donate to help Ronald McDonald House which had provided accommodation.

"They need a lot of support," he said.

"If it hadn't been for them we'd have been living on the street while we are here.

"They have been absolutely amazing. We've had somewhere safe to be and they have given us heaps of support," he said.

A 39-year-old man accused of assaulting Caleb appeared before Judge Tom Broadmore in Masterton District Court on Tuesday.

The man has been granted interim name suppression and was remanded in custody by consent and is due to reappear in court on March 13.