South Amboy teen fights for life after she was punched at party

A South Amboy teen is fighting for her life after she was punched unconscious by a man while at a party near Rutgers University. Emily Rand, 19, suffered a fractured skull after she hit her head on

News 12 Staff

Nov 4, 2016, 6:36 AM

Updated 2,870 days ago

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A South Amboy teen is fighting for her life after she was punched unconscious by a man while at a party near Rutgers University.
Emily Rand, 19, suffered a fractured skull after she hit her head on the ground. She is inside the children's hospital at Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick. Doctors say they need to reduce the swelling at the back of her brain.
"They don't know what her prognosis is right now," says Debbie O'Connor, Rand's aunt and legal guardian.
Rand was punched early Saturday morning during a fight along Hamilton Street near a Rutgers fraternity house. The attack was recorded on someone's phone and posted to Snapchat.
The short video appears to show Rand throwing the first punch, but then her attacker throws a right fist, knocking her down. She is seen lying in the ground, not moving.
"Yes, she did swing at him first, but it didn't give him a right to hit her and knock her down," O'Connor says.
The man is seen running away after punching Rand. Police say he has a shorter build, and was wearing a gray sweatshirt and black hat.
Some Rutgers students say they are uncomfortable with what happened in their neighborhood, and do not like the idea of a man hitting a woman.
"You should never ever swing at a girl. Walk away from that situation. That should never happen," says student Kyle Koegh.
Rand's aunt and uncle say they are hoping someone knows who their niece's attacker is and comes forward to identify him. Anyone who may have any information about the attack should call New Brunswick police at 732-745-5200.