Airlie Beach mother punched in the head outside McDonalds

A mum was celebrating her 28th birthday and her hometown return when she saw a man beating up two others and intervened. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in hospital.

A Whitsunday mother did not even see the face of the man who attacked her, punching her in the head after she tried to intervene in his assault on two other young men.

Lara Halloran was out celebrating her 28th birthday and a fresh start back in her hometown Airlie Beach on Saturday night, March 26, when she was knocked out cold and left bleeding on the town’s pavement.

Lara Halloran was knocked out cold in a single punch in Airlie Beach shortly before 4am on Sunday March 27, 2022.

“I was crossing the road to go to McDonalds and to get some food, and there was this guy attacking two other guys,” Ms Halloran said.

“Obviously, when you see people getting in a punch-up you want to stay out of it, but [the two men] didn’t look like they wanted to.

“If it were me in that situation I would hope someone would intervene.

“As I was walking past I yelled ‘f--- off and leave them alone,’ or something similar and he must have just run at me.

“I didn’t even see him coming.”

Ms Halloran said man reportedly delivered a heavy blow to the back of her head and bolted, leaving her unconscious and bleeding on the street in Airlie Beach.

“I was out cold before I even hit the ground,” Ms Halloran said.

‘If it were me in that situation I would hope someone would intervene’.

The mother said she was distraught to learn no one came to help for several minutes.

“It’s not a nice feeling, knowing no one came to help,” she said.

Fortunately, two young women spotted Ms Halloran and rushed to her aid.

The women immediately phoned an ambulance and found Ms Halloran’s phone to contact her friends and tell them what happened.

They waited with her until the ambulance came, even ensuring all her possessions were secure in her handbag.

“They really were my little guardian angels that night,” Ms Halloran said.

“If it wasn’t for them, I don’t even know.”

The mother said she had seen the CCTV footage and was distraught to learn no one came to help for several minutes.

Ms Halloran woke up at 8am in Proserpine Hospital covered in bruises.

“I was just sobbing — my daughter could have lost her mum just like that,” Ms Halloran said.

“I would not wish it on anyone.”

Ms Halloran said she has a large haematoma to the top of her head, and a large lump at the back of her head along with bruises covering the length of her body from when she hit the ground.

“I am hurting,” she said.

Ms Halloran said she witnessed someone die from a one-hit punch in Fortitude Valley in 2011 and since her own experience, wants everyone to know the dangers of this type of violence.

Ms Halloran woke up at 8am in Proserpine Hospital covered in bruises.

“People don’t realise how bad things can go from just that one punch,” Ms Halloran said.

“I don’t know even what he looks like, it makes me nervous.”.

“I had three panic attacks before giving a statement to police.

Ms Halloran said she wanted to see her attacker serve time in jail.

“I would like to see him plead guilty, admit what he has done wrong and apologise to me and the two other people,” she said.

“Considering it wasn’t just me that he hurt, he didn’t have a freak out — he did it three times.

“It warrants some jail time. A fine or a ban, that’s nothing, it’s not a real punishment, even three months in jail where he’s actually sitting there and thinking about what he’s done.”