A 20-year-old Australian of Maltese descent was still fighting for his life last night after having been the victim of what witnesses described as a “ferocious attack” at the hands of bouncers on the Greek island of Mykonos.

The victim, Doujon Zammit from Sydney, has been pronounced brain dead and his family is likely to allow life support machines to be switched off today, his father, Oliver Zammit, told reporters outside a hospital in Athens yesterday afternoon.

Sadly, Zammit had been on a holiday of a lifetime – to Dubai, Italy, Malta and Greece – and had just left Malta, where family members said he was exploring his Maltese roots, before having headed for Greece.

Speaking yesterday, his brother Zeake told the Australian press of Doujon's stay in Malta, "He had been with all my cousins, he loved it so much he thought about not leaving Malta (to go to Greece), he wanted to stay there and talked about how much he liked it."

In a case of a holiday gone horribly wrong, Zammit was one of six Australians involved in a confrontation with bouncers outside a popular nightclub on the Greek island known for its party atmosphere.

Zammit is understood to have suffered extensive bleeding on the brain and hospital staff had been waiting for family to arrive from Australia before switching off the life support systems.

Zammit was allegedly bashed about the head by a bouncer with an extendable baton and suffered grievous brain injuries in the process. Zammit’s cousin, Cameron Tabone, also of Maltese descent, was also injured in the incident but only suffered a broken nose and wrist.

Speaking outside the hospital where his son was clinging to life yesterday, Oscar Zammit was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “The doctors have said he is brain dead, he’s on life support, and maybe tomorrow we have to turn off the life support and take him home.”

He was said to have blamed the incident on “bad luck”, and requested the media to respect his family’s privacy.

“The doctors have been very helpful, the police, airport and (Australian) embassy, everyone has been so helpful,” he was quoted as saying as his voice cracked up.

He added, “I thank the Greek people for being so supportive.”

After the incident, Zammit, said to be of mixed Maltese and Italian descent, was sent to a health centre on Mykonos and then to a hospital in the port city of Piraeus, where he underwent emergency surgery before he was transferred to another hospital in Athens.

Zammit and Tabone had only been in Mykonos a matter of days when the attack occurred earlier this week

The cousins, both from Sydney, were accused by the bouncers of stealing a wallet and/or a handbag and were forced to flee the bar on quad bikes after allegedly being threatened by club staff. Tabone in a statement denied any wrongdoing on their part.

Zammit’s family insist the attack was unprovoked. “We were told it was completely unprovoked....we don’t know if they think it is mistaken identity,” his uncle Tony Triccas told the Australian press yesterday.

Two bouncers from the club were said to have caught the pair and demanded to see identification and when they refused, a 25-year-old bouncer erected an extendable baton and started beating Zammit about the head.

Police arrested two of the bouncers, and were looking for the others.

The 25-year-old main suspect was charged with aggravated assault and impersonating a police officer. Three others were charged with complicity, judicial officials said on the nearby island of Syros.

They are due to appear in court today on Syros.

In the meantime a tribute to Zammit set up on the social networking site Facebook, entitled “Doujon Zammit – Only The Good Die Young!”, had comments pouring in, with 1,180 members having signed on as of yesterday afternoon.

The page’s main tribute pretty much encapsulates the sentiments expressed, “Doujon was the kind of guy everyone wanted to be around, he would make you laugh when you were down, he would be there to listen to your problems when you needed a wise ear and Doujon would always be there to help a friend in need. Doujon loved nothing more than his family and his friends. Let’s not mourn Doujon’s death but celebrate his life.”