An east Auckland teenager wants justice after he was bashed multiple times and dragged to a creek in a terrifying night-time attack involving scores of young people. 

Aaron Gray, 18, is recovering in Middlemore Hospital with a haematoma on his head, three fractures and a swollen black eye after he and his friends were allegedly targeted in a violent brawl on Sunday morning. 

From his hospital bed, Gray told the Herald he wants to see more action from police investigating the incident in Half Moon Bay, and he wants one of his alleged attackers "in jail". 

"I feel let down. I tried so hard to get these guys held accountable. 

"How do I get justice?" he said. 

Gray said his final memory before passing out was of being dragged along the ground to Botany Creek where he was fighting to get another teenager off him. 

Moments earlier Gray said he, his girlfriend and four others were confronted by a large group of young people at a walkway off Casuarina Rd at around 3am. 

"They started walking past us and they started surrounding us and they blocked the entrance. This one guy said, 'Friends?' and the whole group went 'No'. 

"Then people started coming up to me and this one guy .... came up to me and he was going 'Oh, you think you're tough? You think you're tough?' 

"I was walking backwards and I just got hit on the head really, really hard. 

"Then someone attacked me and I was having to fight someone off in the bushes. 

"I just remember getting dragged down into the bushes and being so terrified. 

"I just faded away from there and I woke up in hospital." 

Aaron Gray, 18, is recovering in hospital after allegedly being attacked in Pakuranga on Sunday. Photo / Supplied 

Gray's mother, who did not want to be named, told the Herald witnesses allege her son was hit on the head with a piece of wood and he fell to his knees. 

"About 10 other boys rushed at him at the same time. They rolled him all the way down into the creek. He was in the bushes; he couldn't see anything. He didn't know what was happening. He was just fighting for his life." 

Gray's friend Mason Bicknell, 18, was there and said at least 15 people were in the group. 

"I had about three boys kicking me while I was on the ground and a fourth one came and beat me with a stick. 

"I got up and ran back to the house and got [my friend's] parents to come shoo everyone off. 

"When I came back, I saw [my friend] lying completely still in his own blood so I thought he died, genuinely." 

Mason Bicknell, 18, was also injured and received hospital treatment. Photo / Supplied 

"I saw Aaron next to him, also covered in blood, sitting there crying out 'I'm dying I'm dying, help'. 

"On the way to the hospital he started losing mental capacity, he stopped being able to reply as quick, and then at all, and when you tried to talk to him, he started groaning and making noises." 

Bicknell said he has had nightmares about the incident and is having trouble sleeping. 

He received treatment for his eye and lumps on his arm and said he still is experiencing soreness. 

Gray's mother received a call at around 6.30am that her son was in a coma and she rushed to see him in hospital. 

She said she was "absolutely terrified" and it was her "worst nightmare". 

"I stayed with him at the hospital until he woke up. Me and his father were both there. We just pretty much cried the whole time. 

"It's been a few days now; the impact has been terrifying. Last night I woke up all night with nightmares that my children were dying and I couldn't keep them safe." 

Aaron Gray said he has a hematoma on his head, three fractures and a swollen black eye. Photo / Supplied 

She told the Herald she wants charges to be laid against those allegedly involved. 

She and Gray believe that the police response has been lacklustre. 

Police said the investigation remains ongoing and police are "following positive lines of enquiry to locate and speak to those involved". 

Police were notified after "multiple people" arrived at Middlemore Hospital around 5am on Sunday, one with serious injuries, Detective Senior Sergeant James Gemmell said. 

"It was established that between 3 and 3.30 that morning, an altercation between two groups took place in the Casuarina Road Reserve where they were confronted and assaulted. 

"Police have spoken with the victims involved and a scene examination was carried out the same morning." 

Gray said he wants to see his alleged attacker behind bars. He said he made a statement to police on Monday and believes he knows the teenager. 

"I want the guy who hit me on the head to go to jail. 

"It will make me feel safer knowing he can't just do that and get away with it. 

"What am I supposed to do? What are the laws in New Zealand? How can they do this to me and there's nothing police can do?" 

Gray said doctors are performing memory tests on him and he will need at least another day in hospital. 

He is worried about the long-term impact of his injuries. 

"When I get up, I'm really dizzy. My balance has been really messed up from this. I don't know if that's going to get better or what, I'm quite scared. 

"It's kind of savage they can do that to me." 

Anyone who has information about this incident is urged to contact Police on 105, quoting file number 220327/7305 or ring Crime Stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.