The Hell’s Kitchen dog walker who was allegedly sucker-punched by a blond brute is learning how to walk and dress himself again — one month after his skull was smashed in the savage attack.
Friends said Paul Martone, 49, is slowly recovering and is able to open his eyes and started speaking again.
But the bartender desperately needs help paying for the medical bills he’s racked up after suffering traumatic brain injuries in the July 8 attack.
Corey Pohan, 32, slugged Martone in the face after the two argued when the buff blond bruiser stepped over Martone’s Chihuahua Peanut instead of walking around the tiny dog.
“He’s opening his eyes again and starting to speak — both great signs for his recovery,” said pal Lynn Castlevetro in an email. “But it’s going to be a long road.”
After cracking his head on the pavement, Martone spent time on a respirator and in intensive care with brain swelling, a contusion and a fractured skull.
He remains in a hospital.
Cops said Martone’s last words to Pohan before the sickening bash at West 55th Street and Ninth Avenue were “Why don’t you throw the first punch?”
Now, Martone’s friends are scrambling to raise $10,000 to help him pay for the surgeries and treatment he’s received.
So far, $3,405 has been donated through Martone’s page on Give Forward.
Pohan, a self-described international surfer who boasted of his six-pack abs on Facebook, was anything but a tough guy in court appearances following the attack.
The shaggy-haired creep, who allegedly bolted from a police cruiser that was taking him from New Jersey to New York for arraignment on the assault charges, burst into hysterics when a judge threw him back in jail.
“Please! Please!” Pohan had wailed in Secaucus Municipal Court. “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!”
Pohan’s attorney didn’t return a call seeking comment.
He returns to Manhattan court Oct. 6.