Josh Storer was left with critical injuries after an incident at a North Shore bar. Photo / Supplied
Josh Storer was left with critical injuries after an incident at a North Shore bar. Photo / Supplied
A man who was critically injured at a North Shore bar has woken from his coma – with his parents seeing him for the first time on Saturday after a desperate journey from the UK.
Josh Storer's family were granted a border exemption to enter the country so they could be with their son, who has undergone brain surgeries following an alleged assault at The Albany bar and restaurant on July 9.
After arriving in New Zealand and completing 14 days of MIQ, parents Ian and Dawn Storer saw their son for the first time in three years at the weekend.
When the couple arrived at Auckland City Hospital where their son has been receiving care in ICU, Josh was awake and able to smile at them.
"When we walked in, and he smiled, that was everything. Everything," Ian said.
The couple had planned to see their son sooner than the three years but Covid-19 had thwarted their plans.
"The emotions of [seeing him for the first time in three years] and the emotions of the circumstances that we were here, it was incredibly emotional," Dawn said.
"But to get a smile out of him was just unbelievable. It gave us a lot of hope."
Josh Storer was left with critical injuries after an incident at a North Shore bar. Photo / Supplied
Storer is able to make hand gestures – like giving doctors a thumbs up and down – but spends most of the time sleeping.
While the 25-year-old has a long road to recovery ahead of him, his doctors were pleased with how he was progressing.
"He is a hell of a lot better than he was four weeks ago. It's been a stressful four weeks."
Storer's sister Sian landed in New Zealand on Sunday and is due to leave MIQ on August 21.
Sian said they wanted to thank everyone in New Zealand who donated to fundraising pages for the family and sent messages of support.
"Some of these people are strangers to our family but have made the effort to be there for us and we're just so incredibly moved by everyone's kindness."
Dawn said the positive messages of support they received from strangers had helped them get through this tough time.
"We're grateful to everybody who has helped us get this far."
It comes after the family's nightmare battle to be granted an entry exemption into New Zealand – that had left them unable to sleep and sick with worry.
Ian said at the time they were "scared to death" as they waited to hear if they would be given the green light from Immigration New Zealand.
INZ did grant the family an exemption, saying their circumstances met the "high threshold".
A 56-year-old Helensville man has been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He appeared at North Shore District Court on July 15 and will next appear on August 10 to enter a plea.
