Paramedics who found the 23-year-old unconscious were so worried about his head injuries they had asked a police officer to drive the ambulance seconds before another ambulance arrived. Intensive care paramedic Hamuera Kohu was one of three paramedics who fought to keep the Bondi man alive in the back of an ambulance as it sped towards St Vincent's Hospital at Darlinghurst. Mr Kohu said the only thing he thought about was trying to keep Mr McEwen alive until he reached the hospital. But after wheeling him into the emergency department he said it was hard not to get upset about "the senselessness of it all". “We realise it will happen again, every Friday and Saturday, and it will invariably involve alcohol," Mr Kohu said. "Alcohol is the root of all evil. The impairment of judgment ... it affects people's lives and in some cases forever.”

He said while alcohol had always fuelled violence, he believed assaults were increasingly vicious. “People didn't punch people to the ground and then stomp on their heads – that's a fairly new thing. My personal view is that the violence is more vicious.” After 18 years with the Ambulance Service of NSW, Mr Kohu said he almost expected to be called to violent incidents involving alcohol: "We just expect we are going to see this type of stuff." Eastern suburbs police crime manager Ana Loughman said a girlfriend of Mr McEwen was walking ahead of him at the time of the attack but a quick-thinking bus driver who witnessed the assault ran to his side and called triple-O. The beachside street was teeming with police conducting an anti-alcohol operation and officers were in the middle of an arrest when they realised Mr McEwen had been knocked unconscious.

Police continued to search through "copious amounts" of security footage to try and identify the man who attacked Mr McEwen in what appeared to be a random attack. The family of Mr McEwen, including his father Robert, mother Nicole and stepmother Louise, have spent much of their time waiting by his bedside. The swelling around his brain meant doctors were still not able to assess the extent of his injuries and he remained in an induced coma. St Joseph's headmaster Ross Tarlinton said his thoughts were with the family of the former boarder who he described as "a fine young fellow”. Loading

“It's just outrageous and something that is inexcusable," Mr Tarlinton said. "His friends are stunned by the senseless violence.” Mr McEwen's friends and family used Facebook to wish him a speedy recovery