Tim Knezevic wakes from coma five days after suffering critical head injures in incident at Cairns

Not when he was rushed from Cairns to Townsville for specialist treatment, not when he was taken off the drugs to keep him in the induced coma, not even for his birthday as his distraught relatives continued their bedside vigil.

But then, on Wednesday, the 24-year-old Novocastrian opened his eyes and recognised his family.

There was his mum, Katarina Balaz, who he pulled in for a hug and rubbed her back.

There was his stepfather Duncan MacMartin, and his brother Dean.

And there was also his little sister, Renee, who piped up with: “you bastard, what have you done to us” as only a sister could.

And, through the brain injury and the fractured skull, the witty kid from Maryland turned his “thumbs up” into “the bird”.

“He is a cheeky bugger and we were so worried we would not have our Tim back, but we do and now we need to bring him completely back,’’ Ms Balaz said.

It had been a harrowing five days since Tim’s family got the call that he had suffered critical head injuries after being hit by a car in Cairns last Friday as he stood on a footpath with three mates – a place he had only moved to a fortnight before for work.

And his family and friends immediately thought the worst.

“It was hard not to when you get the call and get told you needed to get there immediately,’’ Ms Balaz said.

“To get the call when you are 2000km away from your child and not being able to be next to them and hold them is horrendous.’’

Tim had been flown from Cairns to Townsville for emergency treatment.

His mate, Daniel Ellis, who was with him when he was injured, jumped on a plane to Townsville and has been there ever since.

As has his two other best mates, Bo Anderson and Liam Shaunessy, and his siblings’ partners Tearna Singh and Ben Gordon.

Tim is still yet to speak – other than possibly his name to a nurse – and has only been awake for very short periods, with brain specialists keen for more coherence.

But the little signs are positive and are giving everyone hope he can make a full recovery.

“The next step for us is if we can get a little bit more consciousness and get him to vocalise more it means we can get him out of intensive care and into a neurology ward,’’ stepfather Duncan MacMartin said.

“If we can get a lot more clarity on him, like his functionality, then we can start the process.

“We are not going to survive this, we will thrive. It has been such an emotional hell, but we are starting to see the positives.’’

Just as the emotional rollercoaster had been overwhelming, so has the love and support from Tim’s huge group of friends.

“I am still in awe of how much he has been loved,’’ Ms Balaz said.

“The support has been simply overwhelming.’’

A fundraising account has been set up to help Tim and his family – https://www.gofundme.com/2fgcnrw