Brooklyn Man To Run Half-Marathon 5 Years After Being Brutally Beaten Upstate

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Five years ago a Brooklyn man was beaten into a coma during a barroom brawl near upstate Binghamton University.

Now, after a long recovery, Bryan Steinhauer will be running a half-marathon in Manhattan on March 17 to raise money for a fund he started at Mount Sinai Hospital called Minds Over Matter. The foundation helps support young adults with brain injuries.

LINK: Bryan Steinhauer's Fundraiser - Minds on the Run

The 26-year-old suffered skull fractures and a severe brain injury when he was attacked in May 2008.

"Out of nowhere, I wake up in a hospital. I can't move, can't talk. I'm like, 'why,'" Steinhauer told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond.

Steinhauer was in a coma for three months and doctors were unsure of his survival at the time, but he defied the odds.

Steinhauer regained his ability to talk, walk and run, earned his college degree, passed his CPA exam and began working as an accountant.

"The first step in my recovery was to get running," Steinhauer said, adding that his next goal will be to run a full marathon. "Never give up on yourself, just keep on trying."

"It's all about mind over matter," he told Diamond.

Former college basketball player Miladin Kovacevic was charged with assault in the attack in the United States and was sentenced to two years in prison in his native Serbia, where he had fled after jumping bail.

The case strained U.S.-Serbian relations after the country had refused to hand Kovacevic over to the U.S. citing local laws banning extradition.

Kovacevic was released from prison last November.

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• Bryan Steinhauer