Miraculous recovery: Gatton man Mike Katui to live following an alleged brutal attack at pub

A ‘kind and open’ Gatton picker who was fighting for life in hospital, after being seriously injured in an alleged alcohol-fuelled pub fight will live.

Mike Katui, 26, may die after sustaining a serious head injury during an alleged assault at Gatton.

A Gatton picker who was fighting for his life in hospital after being seriously injured in an alleged alcohol-fuelled fight will live.

In early September, Mike Katui, 26, was in a coma at the Princess Alexandra Hospital and a Toowoomba court heard in September he was not responding to treatment and was likely to die.

However his health has significantly improved, and his condition is entirely stabilised – surprising medical staff and police.

A former workmate of Mike’s said he was relieved and happy to hear he was going to live.

He said Mr Katui was the first to help out and often drove his colleges to work.

“Mike is the one who’s always a good guy in our group,” he said.
“He has always been an open and kind person.”

Fighter Mike Katui, 26.

The young man was on a working holiday away from his family when he was allegedly attacked while on a night out at a regional Queensland pub, changing his life forever.

The two men police charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, were also on a working holiday - the Lockyer Valley is touted as Australia’s salad bowl and attracts this number of fruit and vegetable pickers yearly.

The alleged attackers, Michael Numdi, 49, and John Moses, 31, are known to each other, however initial police investigations suggested the pair was not friends with Mr Katui.

Police will allege it was a violent assault fuelled by alcohol.

When the case against the pickers was mentioned at a Toowoomba court in this month, the court heard officers had obtained CCTV footage of the alleged fight.

The alleged fight was not a protracted incident and resulted in Mr falling and smashing his head against the ground.

The Royal Hotel, Gatton. Stock photo. Photo: Sarah Harvey / The Queensland Times

He was flown to Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, with a serious head injury after his health was stabilised by Queensland Ambulance paramedics at the pub, and again by the Gatton Hospital emergency department.

Weeks late at Dalby, 32-year-old man Lincoln Hoad was critically injured after he was allegedly punched at a pub, and hit his head on the ground.

Sadly he did not survive, and died days later in hospital.

According to Queensland Police Service statistics, each year the number of assaults reported across the Darling Downs Region is increasing.