Police hunt for ‘gang’ who violently attacked a young father after a night out on the Gold Coast

Mark Aster had been celebrating his younger brother's buck's party when he was attacked by a group of people on his way back to a Surfers Paradise hotel.

Four young men and a woman approached Mr Aster and his older brother John on Riverview Parade, demanding cigarettes.

“To appease them, my brother gave them cigarettes and at that point, we said goodbye and we moved away, and they followed us,” Mr Aster said.

“It was the girl that said, ‘get them’.”

Mr Aster ran, seeking refuge at a nearby hotel.

One attacker pursued, punching him in the head along the way and trying to rip a gold chain from his neck.

“I just remember running and it was all slow motion, just like in the movies," he said.

“Looking back and seeing a face - just a determined evil type face.”

The young father was repeatedly kicked and bashed with metal poles and while unconscious, his mobile phone was stolen.

The 37-year-old suffered a fractured skull, had his teeth smashed and required multiple stitches. Doctors said he was close to death.

Police are investigating CCTV footage from earlier in the night, showing two men matching the description of the attackers.

They were urinating on the front door of the apartments and then shoulder-charged it off the hinges.

Police are looking at the possibility of tracking the mobile phone using GPS.

They are described as being late teens, early 20s, the female being short and heavy with long blonde hair and a lower-lip piercing.