Doctor ‘punched from behind’ faces permanent brain damage
A heart surgeon allegedly king hit from behind after telling off a visitor for smoking will ‘almost certainly’ never work as a doctor again if he wakes up from a coma, a colleague says.
Dr Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, who studied medicine in New Zealand before recently moving to Melbourne, is the 41-year-old father of young twin daughters, Elsa and Sophia.
A 22-year-old man, who followed him into the foyer of Box Hill Hospital and allegedly king hit him from behind on Tuesday night, has been charged with intentionally causing serious injury.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons chair of trauma Dr John Crozier said Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann was either likely to die or survive with serious brain injuries.
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Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann (pictured right) with his lawyer wife Christine Baumberg and twin daughters Elsa and Sophia
Dr Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann (pictured) remains in critical condition after he was allegedly punched in the head outside Box Hill Hospital
Melbourne heart surgeon Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann is the father of twin daughters
‘The probability of death from a single punch I think is very high at this stage,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.
‘The last information that I had was that the brain injury was devastating.’
Dr Crozier said his surgical colleague would ‘almost certainly’ never work again as a surgeon ‘and may well not be the same person that his wife married’.
‘This is the point of greatest potential in a surgical career. This is a devastating tragedy on so many planes,’ he said.
Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann’s wife Christine Baumberg is a Melbourne lawyer.
They are both originally from Germany, but have spent the past few years in New Zealand, before recently moving to Melbourne.
The heart surgeon, who remains in a critical condition at The Alfred Hospital, had reportedly told the man off for smoking in the non-smoking area outside the front entrance.
That man, from Mills Park in Melbourne’s north, was visiting a patient with friends, and is due to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court later on Thursday.
Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann (pictured) is a father-of-two and remains in critical condition
The attack follows a spate of assaults on Melbourne doctors at hospitals during the past five years.
‘Such criminal violence is completely unacceptable for anyone,’ Dr Crozier said.
The man charged with the surgeon’s assault was arrested on Wednesday night after police released a closed-circuit TV image of the man getting out of a lift at Box Hill Hospital.
Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann remains in a critical condition at The Alfred Hospital with severe head injuries as a result of that alleged one-punch assault that caused him to fall on to the ground.
On Wednesday afternoon, police released camera footage of his alleged attacker carrying two plastic bags and wearing a baseball cap.
A CCTV image of the man police want to speak to about the alleged assault of a surgeon
The front of Box Hill Hospital where a surgeon was king hit on Tuesday night
Dr Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann is fighting for his life in hospital after he was allegedly punched in the head outside Box Hill Hospital
The alleged assault of Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann occurred at 7.20pm on Tuesday.
‘It’s believed a man was walking into the Arnold Street premises when he became involved in a verbal dispute with a male standing in the foyer,’ police said in a statement.
The man now charged remained at large for a day, prompting a public appeal from police.
‘It’s a one-punch assault where this person is now seriously injured,’ Detective Senior Sergeant Ian Shepherd told reporters.
‘We’ve certainly seen plenty of incidents in the past where people die from these incidents.’
Dr Pritzwald-Stegmann worked at several Melbourne hospitals, including Warringal Private Hospital in Melbourne’s east.
Ambulance Victoria confirmed paramedics transferred the victim, who is in a critical condition with head injuries, to another The Alfred Hospital near Melbourne’s city centre.
Victoria’s Acting Health Minister Martin Foley condemned the attack as ‘completely unacceptable’.
‘Our thoughts are with the doctor so brutally attacked at his place of work – as well his family, colleagues and patients,’ he tweeted.
The Australian Medical Association’s Victorian president Lorraine Baker said attacks on medical staff were sometimes a regular occurrence.
‘You should be able to turn up to work and not be abused, threatened or assaulted,’ she said.
‘Violence and aggression towards healthcare workers must stop.’
The surgeon at Box Hill Hospital was reportedly concerned about smoking at the front doors
The surgeon sustained head injuries and was transferred to The Alfred Hospital, where he remains in a critical condition
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