Police and paramedics were pelted with bottles as they tried to help a seriously injured man who had been glassed in the eye at a party in north-western NSW, police say.
The 22-year-old has permanently lost sight in his left eye after he was attacked with a broken beer bottle at a party in Bourke in the early hours of Boxing Day.
Emergency service workers who arrived at the party to treat the injured man were attacked by partygoers who threw bottles at them, before they were able to take the injured man to Bourke Hospital for treatment.
The injured man was later flown to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney for emergency surgery, but doctors were not able to save his eye.
It was the second time in a week that emergency service personnel trying to treat a seriously injured patient were attacked in NSW.
In an unrelated incident in Taree on December 21, police and paramedics attempting to treat an 18-year-old man whose legs had been severed in a train accident were pelted with rocks and verbally abused.
Two police officers were struck with rocks and an ambulance windscreen was smashed in that incident. The injured man had been celebrating his 18th birthday before he was hit by the train at a level crossing.
A NSW Police spokeswoman said the latest incident occurred about 1am on Boxing Day, when police were called to reports of an assault at a party on Warrego Street in Bourke.
When officers from the Darling River local area command arrived they found paramedics treating the 22-year-old, before the partygoers turned on them.
At 3am the following day, police arrested a 17-year-old over the glassing and charged him with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Police allege he used a beer bottle to damage the 22-year-old's eye.
The teenager was refused police bail to appear at a children's court on Monday.
