A well-known Oak Harbor family man and youth football coach is recuperating at a Seattle hospital after suffering a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain from an assault outside a downtown restaurant just after midnight Sunday.

Tyson Boon was moved from the intensive care unit Thursday and took his first unassisted steps. He still has difficulty speaking, performing simple tasks or remembering visitors.

Sarah Reinstra, his older sister, said the family hopes he will be able to come home this weekend, but he has a long road of recovery ahead of him.

“He will just have to go through the healing process and see how his memory comes back or doesn’t come back,” she said. “We’re just waiting for our brother to come back to us.”

Boon’s friends and family have set up the “Tyson Boon account” at Wells Fargo so that people can help Boon and his family with future expenses. Boon is a 2006 graduate of Oak Harbor High School, the coach of the Oak Harbor Youth Football League and a player for the Snohomish County Thunder, a semi-pro football team.

He and his wife, BreAnna, have a 1-year-old son.

Detective Sgt. Teri Gardner with the Oak Harbor Police Department said investigators are still interviewing witnesses in order to piece together the events from the night of the assault and are asking for anyone who saw anything to come forward. Detective Ron Hofkamp can be reached at 279-4648.

Gardner said the assault occurred outside Mi Pueblo restaurant just after midnight Sunday. Trevor Fleming, a 30-year-old South Whidbey man, allegedly punched Boon in the head, according to Gardner. She said she didn’t yet know what, if anything, may have precipitated the assault.

The detective said it was unclear, at this point, whether Boon’s head injuries were a result of the punch or from falling on the ground afterward. Boon was transported to Whidbey General Hospital and then airlifted to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.

According to Gardner, police officers arrested Fleming on suspicion of second-degree assault. He was released on his personal recognizance.