Thanks for your story. No, he had the laser and they said that was all he could do for him. And no he didn't get a few whack in. The guy hit him just as he was turning around from letting his friend in the back door of the bar. Last Call, Doors all locked. He didn't even have a chance. He was right there when he turned around than the guy ran off.
Yes my son is 24.
I was also struck in the left cheek by a glass object during a bar fight. It started over some big guy shoving around this girl I knew from college and it turned out he was an even bigger coward than I originally thought and couldn't fight another guy (me) without bringing a cocktail glass into the situation. I ended up basically knocking him out and another buddy of mine gave the guy a few whacks while he was on the ground and security was throwing me out. I didn't think I was hurt that bad until I walked back to my place and looked in the mirror. This was in May of 2009.
Anyway, I ended up having to get 6 stitches and was left with a pretty dark vertical scar about an inch long. Your son looks about the same age as me (I turned 24 two weeks after the incident) and although mine was less severe, I'd imagine the treatment options may be similar. I've gotten four Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatments which have helped smooth the scar out and are supposed to help lighten the discoloration as well.
So far, I've had limited results on improving the discoloartion. This may have something to do with my natural skin tone (I'm caucasian but have a more tan/olive complexion than your son appears to). After one more IPL, my doctor is thinking about stepping up to Deep FX, which is a much more powerful laser treatment. However, I may have to deal with some pigmentation side effects there as well.
I'm not a doctor, so I obviously can't guarantee these will work for your son but they may be worth talking to the doctor about. I actually started my own thread asking for other treatment options for myself. If there's anything that worked for your son, I'd be happy to hear about it.
I hope some of this helps and I hope your son got a few whacks of his own in!