Dave Karaitiana Support & Recovery Fund

In the early morning of Sunday 7th April, Dave was assaulted on the Strand in Tauranga, this resulted in him being knocked unconscious, falling on to concrete and hitting his head so hard the impact knocked both sides of his brain. He was taken to Tauranga Hospital where he was put into an induced coma and taken for a CT scan where they discovered severe brain swelling and bleeds. Due to the severity of his injuries the doctors arranged for the Westpac Helicopter to transport Dave to Waikato Hospital so that he could be under the care of neurological specialists.

At this time, he was unable to move the entire right side of his body, had only limited movement on his left side and was unable to speak. In the days following he’s made steady progress, first improving the movement on his left side, then being able to stay awake for increasingly longer periods of time. He’s now able to speak in short sentences, is eating on a special diet and is flexing the muscles on his right side. On Monday 15th April he will be transferred to a rehabilitation facility in Auckland to continue working on his recovery with specialist for neurological injuries.

The money raised by this page will go towards Dave's medical costs not covered by ACC and insurance and to assist Dave’s family’s expenses as they support him through his recovery. Dave’s mum flew over from Australia, his children travelled up from Hastings and his sister, nieces and nephews travelled over from Tauranga to be with Dave. They’re currently paying for accommodation in Hamilton and will soon have to travel to and find accommodation in Auckland to be able to continue to support Dave.