A MT Eliza man has been left with permanent nerve and circulation damage and faces rounds of plastic surgery after a glass was smashed into his head at a crowded Mornington bar.
The man was drenched in blood in front of his horrified friends and was told by paramedics he would have died from blood loss had the ambulance not arrived promptly.
Dallas Purdey, 30, was drinking with friends at Brass Razoo in Main Street on Friday, October 9, when he had a minor verbal altercation with a man seated at the bar.
Mr Purdey was walking away when the man launched at him from behind, smashing a glass into the left side of his face.
Detective Senior Constable Clayton Beckhouse said police had interviewed a man about the incident but no charges had been laid and investigations were continuing.
Mr Purdey lives with his grandmother and it is the second major blow in what has become an annus horribilis for the family. His grandfather died when he was struck by a car while riding his bicycle on the Nepean Highway at Mt Eliza in May. Bike activists chained an old white bike to a tree near the accident site to draw attention to the dangers that bicycle riders face.
Mr Purdey, a bricklayer, said he was badly shaken by the bashing and experienced unsettling flashbacks.
"This whole incident has really taken it out of me," he said from his home in Mt Eliza.
Now wary of public venues, he quietly celebrated his 30th birthday with friends at a private venue two weeks ago.
"I'm not going to let this get to me," he vowed.
He said he often went to Brass Razoo because it seemed a nice, quiet place, but he claims the bar was overcrowded on the evening he was assaulted.
Detective Senior Constable Beckhouse said the bar was generally not considered a high risk venue by police. It does not have security cameras.
Mr Purdey said he was trying to re-enter the bar after having gone outside for a cigarette and had a verbal exchange with a man seated at the bar, who was partly blocking the doorway.
"The guy sort of laughed at me and said, 'You've got to ask me nicely'.
"Next thing I'm picking glass out of my face and there is blood spurting from my temple and my eye."
He said he initially began to remonstrate with the man but the horrified looks of those around him convinced him his injuries were serious.
The offender and a man he had been drinking with escaped on foot along a nearby alleyway while Mr Purdey was being attended to by friends.
"The ambulance guys said another five or 10 minutes and I would have been dead," he said.
He was taken to Frankston Hospital where he underwent five hours of microsurgery to repair severed arteries and nerves.
"I just want to thank everyone at Frankston Hospital, they were fantastic," he said.
The offender is described as a man of southern European descent, about 55, of stocky build and had short dark hair.
He was wearing a white T-shirt with cropped sleeves and a dark logo and was sporting a goatee or three-day beard. He was with a man described as slim, about 183centimetres tall (6ft) and wearing a red T-shirt.
Information to Mornington police on 59752733, Crime Stoppers on 1800333000 or www.crimestoppers
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