A SMASHED jaw, broken teeth, facial cuts and deep bruising - that was the reward for this nursing student who went to the aid of a friend being viciously attacked in a pub.

The 22-year-old, who wished to be known only as "Maddie", was picked up, headbutted and dropped to the ground "like a rag doll" by a thug who has still not been charged almost three months later. While she is recovering from her physical injuries, the mental trauma of the attack is still fresh.

Despite the sickening incident occurring in early May, no action has been taken against Maddie's attacker because she claims police told her her case was "a low priority".

The student - who bravely allowed photographs of her badly injured face to be shown but fears retribution if her full name is published - was messaging on her phone when a fight broke out in the beer garden of the Fitzroy Hotel at Richmond in the early hours of May 5.

"Out of the corner of my eye I saw my friend on the ground being kicked by a male," Maddie said. "I screamed his name and ran down the ramp to give him some first aid and let him know I'm here, I'm going to help."

That's all she remembers of the attack. But she has been told what happened next.

"The guy grabbed me and lifted me up and headbutted me and threw me on the ground like a rag doll," she said. "I was knocked out. I remember waking up on the ground. I was really cold and I couldn't feel my body so I told my friends not to move me until (paramedics) arrived."

Maddie's revelations come as Sydney reels from the violent deaths of 18-year-old Thomas Kelly at Kings Cross earlier this month and the fatal stabbing of Patrick Crowe, 22, at a Parramatta bus stop on July 8.

Recalling the attack yesterday, Maddie said she must have turned her head at the last second to avoid taking the blow of the headbutt directly front-on, which she feared could have been fatal.

"Not a day goes by I don't think about it and know I could have died," she said.

"I know from my injuries it was only a couple of degrees (off centre) and he could have broken my nose and pushed it back into my brain."

Maddie said she went to Hawkesbury police station twice in the two weeks after the incident but was told the officer in charge of the investigation was "sick". She said she gave a statement to another officer "in a hallway".

She claimed that same officer later fobbed her off, saying: "You're a low priority case."

Maddie said she is at a loss to understand why no action had been taken against her attacker. The nursing student is still on a soft diet, suffers nightmares and lives in fear: "He's stolen a bit of me."

A NSW Police spokesman said the matter was "a priority" and had been under constant investigation since May 5.

"It takes time to prepare a full brief of evidence before charges can be laid but (we are) hopeful the matter will be resolved very soon."