As Sydney's latest one-punch victim fights for life, the teenager's family members say their lives have been turned upside down.
Eighteen-year-old Daniel Christie remained in critical condition at St Vincent's Hospital on Thursday after he was punched in the face on New Year's Eve.
Doctors believe the teenager will probably have a serious brain injury if he survives the vicious assault which occurred as he walked through Kings Cross with his brother.
Late on Thursday the young man's family spoke out.
"Our lives have been irrevocably turned upside down since New Year's Eve," the family said in a statement.
"We don't agree with the popular term `king-hit'.
"We have heard it referred to as a coward punch, which seems to be more appropriate."
The family asked for privacy as the tense bedside wait continued at the hospital.
"We have all been affected so much by this tragedy and our clear focus remains with our son and brother through this difficult time," the statement read.
The teenager's alleged attacker, Shaun McNeil, appeared in Parramatta Bail Court on Wednesday where he was refused bail.
McNeil, 25, allegedly struck three young men before targeting Mr Christie and his brother, Peter, when the other young men tried to hide behind them.
The court heard McNeil had been celebrating for 12 hours and had drunk nine drinks before the alleged incident at 9pm.
The labourer allegedly boasted he was a mixed martial arts fighter before punching Mr Christie in the face.
The assaults were on the street where 18-year-old Thomas Kelly was fatally king-hit in an unprovoked attack in July 2012.
Acting NSW opposition leader Linda Burney said alcohol-fuelled violence was at crisis point in Sydney, as she called on the government to implement Labor's alcohol policy.
The plan, modelled on policies rolled out in Newcastle, includes imposing 1am lockouts and stopping the serving of alcohol at 3am in the city centre and Kings Cross.
"(Premier) Barry O'Farrell is sitting on his hands while we see the tragedy of young lives being lost and impaired terribly," Ms Burney said.
"The experts, the police, the paramedics, people in emergency wards are all saying one thing: the availability of alcohol is one of the key reasons we're seeing such a terrible scourge of alcohol-fuelled violence."
The opposition's demands were echoed by emergency service workers and doctors last month.
But Mr O'Farrell said the government had already imposed measures in Kings Cross, which had resulted in assaults in the precinct dropping by one-third.
The government would also trial an identity scanning system to identify trouble-makers and ban them from the late-night strip, he said.
"That's of no comfort to the Christie family this morning but equally, the slogan being put forward by my opponents is of no comfort to someone who was assaulted at 9pm," Mr O'Farrell told ABC Radio on Thursday.
Community engagement was needed to ensure families took personal responsibility for their children, he said.
"I don't understand the violence lust or the violence rage that exists out there below the surface," he said.
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