Surgeon was punched in face, nurse says

A nurse wiped away tears as she watched footage of the moment she came across a Melbourne surgeon lying on the floor after an alleged one punch attack.

Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann, 41, suffered head injuries and later died after he was allegedly struck by 24-year-old Joseph Esmaili in May last year.

The Box Hill Hospital doctor's life support was turned off four weeks later and Esmaili is on trial for manslaughter.

Nurse Samantha Dodd was leaving work when she came across the hospital's receptionist at Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann's side.

She immediately turned and ran back to her ward to pick up life-saving equipment and get help.

Another nurse, Jessica Bourke, had already run for help after viewing the scene through a window from a nearby stairwell.

Esmaili's lawyer John Desmond quizzed the nurse in the Supreme Court.

She was at points visibly upset as asked about where she had been standing, her height and the angle from which she had seen the two men.

The lawyer suggested it would have been impossible for her to have seen what she claimed.

"I know he was punched and I ran up the stairs to get help," she said.

Ms Bourke said she had heard Mr Prtizwald-Stegmann, who was facing her, ask a man in front of him "why did you spit on me?" before he was punched.

"I can't remember where on the face he was punched ... I just know it was in the face," she said.

Business manager Christa Allen said she saw the scene reflected in a front window as Mr Pritzwald-Stegmann fell to the ground.

"I heard a very loud cracking sound," she said.

Emsaili's trial is set to continue next week.