Living in fear after hammer attack
Parents say ‘promising student’ a shadow of his former self since horrific beating
The parents of a promising business student fear for his future after a vicious, unprovoked attack by two men armed with a screwdriver and hammer — which they say has left him a shell of his former self.
Rui Shu was severely beaten and robbed by two yet-to-be-identified men just metres from his Whangarei home on January 3.
The 27-year-old was due to return to Massey University on the North Shore just two weeks ago to begin his third year studying business and accounting.
Rui did not want to discuss the attack when approached yesterday, but his father Sam Shu told the Herald he fears his son may never fully recover.
Sam and Rui’s mum, May Zhang, believe their son, who routinely “shuts all the windows and doors, and closes all the curtains due to fear”, is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Rui has refused medical treatment, including eye drops and antibiotics, since his release from Whangarei Hospital two days after the attack, his mother told the Herald.
Police said in a statement on January 6 that Rui had been walking north on Lupton Ave, near Oranga Rd about 10.30pm.
He was confronted by two men carrying weapons who demanded he hand over his bag.
Sam said his son was told by the two men, “don’t play games”, before the men slammed Rui’s head into the pavement and began beating him with a hammer.
Rui’s eyes were cut with the screwdriver, Sam said, and his jaw, cheek, nose and eye sockets broken.
In the student’s bag was a passport, bank cards, cash, two laptops and a cellphone.
Zhang said the seemingly random attack has left her son living in pain and fear “day and night”.
She said for Rui to receive further medical treatment he is required to give permission.
“My son’s mind is confused . . . If they can’t get [permission] from a PTSD sufferer, are they going to leave my son’s facial . . . fractures untreated and awful pain to the rest of his life?
“My son stays at home alone with his untreated face and shuts all the windows and doors and closes all the curtains due to fear, while I am working during the day,” she said.
“People walk on the street and they have done nothing wrong. Then all of a sudden, they get seriously assaulted, which destroys their wellbeing for the rest of their lives.”
Sam said his son, who enjoyed walking to improve his fitness before the attack, continues to act “very strangely, he refuses to do anything”.
“[His health] is very bad at home ... [I’ve] seen many strange behaviours [since the attack], he refused to take the medication, refused to go to the hospital, refused to take any [food].”
Sam described Rui as a promising student who had done well after the family moved to New Zealand from China in 2002, but worried his son’s academic career may now be over.
In January, Detective Constable Alistair Todd said the assault was a “horrific, unprovoked attack by two cowards”.
Police described the first attacker as a man in his early 20s, of solid build, and being of Maori or Pacific Island descent.
The second attacker was a man of skinny build and of Maori or Pacific Island descent.