Albert Maynard, 54, was attacked by a group after he asked them to turn their music down. Photo / Supplied
*WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
As the blows kept coming - to his head, face and body - a father-of-five continued to stand and defend himself as his wife screamed at his attackers to stop.
Albert Maynard suffered serious injuries to his head and face when a group allegedly attacked him - one armed with a wooden stake - about 1am on Saturday, in Flat Bush, South Auckland. His wife, Monika Maynard, would effectively save his life when - seeing the attack from upstairs - ran outside to yell at the group while on the phone to police.
"As soon as he approached the car, they immediately - in seconds - got out of the car and started attacking him,'' she said.
It was then all four males got out of the vehicle and began to punch and kick Maynard, while one in the group used a wooden stake to strike him.
"The attack [went] on for quite a few minutes.
"I screamed for them to stop. But they wouldn't listen''.
Monika Maynard said she believed the men decided to leave when they heard her on the phone to police - and for the fact that their victim would not fall.
'HE WAS BLEEDING PROFUSELY. IT WASN'T GOOD'
"I think that's another reason they left. Albert - he just wouldn't go down.
"He was bleeding pretty profusely. It wasn't good. If the cops hadn't been called, I don't know what else might have happened,'' she said.
It would take about three hours for medical staff to stop the bleeding from his head.
Photographs taken at Middlemore Hospital shortly afterwards show Albert Maynard with blood dripping from his face.
His blood-soaked hair has several staples in it and bits of what were once fresh white gauze, now a deep red, stick out of it.