Today, four years ago, Mooroopna man Paul Brown was coward-punched to the head. His decision to intervene when a 19-year-old was verbally abusing his girlfriend almost cost him his life — but it could have saved it too. Because while scans revealed a fractured skull and bleeding to the brain, they also uncovered a brain tumour. Today Mr Brown is a picture of health and only wants to be known as a good coffee maker. Madeleine Byron reports.
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Paul Brown has no memory of the night that changed his life forever.
Today, four years ago, the former Geelong AFL footballer and much-loved father of four was outside a takeaway shop in Vaughan St, Shepparton, when he was coward-punched to the head.
Shepparton police Sergeant Darren Wagstaff said Mr Brown, who was 46 at the time, intervened when a 19-year-old Shepparton man was verbally abusing his girlfriend.
Sgt Wagstaff said from looking at CCTV, Mr Brown appeared to be unconscious before he hit the ground.
“A lady came up to me the other day who I had never met, and she was at the takeaway shop the night of the assault and she said no-one knew what to do,” Mr Brown said.
“They called the ambulance and she made her husband go get a pillow out of the car and she put me in the recovery position.”
He said little things and people from that night still popped up from time to time.
“I don’t have any recollection of the night. I know I had been at Chemist Warehouse and walked across to get a kebab.
“I remember being in the hospital with a neck brace and trying to get that off because it was irritating me and I vaguely remember the noise of a plane and getting off at the Essendon airport because it was so cold.”
Mr Brown was transferred to the Alfred Hospital, where scans revealed he had a fractured skull and bleeding to the brain.
Scans also revealed, unrelated to the attack, he had a meningioma — a tumour that forms on membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord just inside the skull.
“It was 30mm and it was in a drainage point of my brain, which was rare,” he said.
The tumour was removed in December that year.
On August 26, 2016 — at the trial of Mr Brown's assailant — Judge Lance Pilgrim said the discovery of the tumour may have been the only positive thing to come from the devastating attack.
‘‘It’s fortunate that this extra difficulty became known,’’ Mr Pilgrim said.
At the time of the assault, Mr Brown was an active part of the Goulburn Valley community.
“I was on the school board, I was running the local Auskick, coaching a football team and part owner in the Quality Teams business,” he said.
“The after-effects of the operation was my sight-to-brain processing had slowed down, so I was forced to slow down also.”
His victim impact statement read in court revealed he had suffered mood changes, anxiety, blurred vision and other problems since the incident.
“I wasn’t able to drive because I had no peripheral vision on my left side and my wife had to drive me back and forth to appointments.
“I could see why I couldn’t drive though, because the fatigue was the biggest thing for the first three to six months.”
Once Mr Brown was “on the mend” he made his way back into the workforce, including production work with SPC.
“I didn’t feel confident about my brain and my ability to work for a while, but it was great to be able to work for people and I worked with some really great people.”
He said the opportunity to branch out on his own came up earlier this year with Xpresso Mobile Café.
“I ended up buying into the franchise because I felt I needed the support and now it’s five months in and it’s been fantastic.
“To say I was going to be a barista is a long-winded story, but the community has been amazing with all their support and giving me a chance — and apparently the coffee’s great, so that’s nice to hear.”
Mr Brown said his mantra in life was simple.
“I was a footballer, I was a business owner and now I want to be known as a good coffee maker."
Regular scans have revealed no recurring damage to his brain, and the tumour has not returned.
Mr Brown's attacker received a six-year jail sentence in September 2016.
