Battered Indian origin doc in Melbourne bounces back after near fatal ordeal

Melbourne, Dec 18 (ANI): Each day is a bonus for Indian origin doctor, Mukesh Haikerwal, who is determined not to let his brutal assault last year in Dennis Reserve, Williamstown, take over his life.

Dr Haikerwal has returned to work mapping out national hospital reforms, saying that his recovery is on track and he hopes to start seeing patients in January, The Age reported.

Despite near-fatal head wounds from baseball bat blows in a Williamstown park in September 2007, and fears that he would suffer permanent brain injury, the former doctors' union president was in Canberra on Tuesday immersed in the complexities of health policy.

Determined not to let the attack rule his life, he takes regular walks through Dennis Reserve, where he was mugged on AFL grand final night and rushed into emergency surgery at Footscray's Western Hospital with head fractures and blood clots on his brain.There were two fractures and two clots, which is very significant. If I hadn't been sorted within that half-hour, I would have been a goner, Dr Haikerwal said.

When he woke up after intensive care, he found he had missed a day and a half of his life. He suffered pain and headaches, and had trouble coming to grips with the severity of what had happened to him.

But as his rehabilitation progressed, Dr Haikerwal became determined not to let the assault take over his life, The Age reported.

Dr Haikerwal bears no physical scars from the attack and, thanks to an intense rehabilitation program by a team at Melbourne's Epworth Hospital, is "fitter than I have been since I was in university."

He has urged the local community to "reclaim the streets" after seven victims were bashed across Melbourne's northern and western suburbs on September 27. (ANI)