The victim of a one-punch attack has told of the devastating effects on his life, saying he scratched his head in hospital only to find half of it missing.
In a victim impact statement, read out by his fiancee, Jason Lindsley said he had to learn to walk, talk, think, eat and read again but "I'm not going to let this or you keep me down".
He was addressing Ali Joubouri, 22, who has pleaded guilty in the SA District Court to recklessly causing serious harm to Mr Lindsley outside Adelaide's Zhivago nightclub in August 2012.
After being punched, he fell to the ground and cracked his head on the concrete, resulting in swelling on his brain.
He underwent surgery removing part of his brain and replacing the top of his skull, as well as extensive rehabilitation.
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Mr Lindsley said when he woke up in hospital he scratched his head but found half of it missing, and later felt degraded at having to wear a helmet to keep his head protected.
"I used to get headaches if I got up too quickly or laughed too loud," he said.
Having previously loved cars and sports, Mr Lindsley said he had to be much more careful now, no longer had a sense of smell and had become more frustrated, angry and clumsier since the punch.
His fiancee, Sarah Lake, said she had felt broken-hearted at seeing her "strong man" become so vulnerable and weighing only 47kg after coming out of the coma.
"I remember the first time we helped him out of bed - he looked and felt like he had wasted away," she said.
But his determination to recover had been "inspirational".
Sue Lindsley said she had feared her son would not survive and now appreciated their family was one of the few to still have a son alive after similar cowardly violence.
Judge Rauf Soulio will hear sentencing submissions on November 25.
