THE mother of a west Belfast teenager says she could "easily have been burying" her son after he suffered horrific facial injuries in an unprovoked attack.
Doctors told the family of Kyle McPhillips (18) that they were "surprised he wasn't left brain damaged or dead" after he was punched several times in the face on a night out in Belfast city centre.
He suffered multiple fractures to his cheekbone and two fractures to his eye socket, which affected around 25 per cent of his vision.
His mother Lorraine McPhillips last night said "it will take him months to recover".
Kyle, a year 14 pupil at St Louise's College, had been at a nightclub with friends and went to a fast food outlet in Castle Place when he was assaulted in the early hours of February 21.
"I had just came out of McDonalds about 3.15am with my friends and this guy was outside the Spar shouting across the road," Kyle said.
"Then out of the blue he just ran across and pushed me over and started hitting me.
"It all happened so quick, I was knocked out after the first punch."
His father Stephen Hyndman said: "Kyle's only 5ft 3in tall, there's nothing to him and this guy just grabbed him and started throwing punches at his face.
"Kyle never said a word to him and he just came charging at him, grabbed the smallest out of the group and started punching him. He hit him about five or six times.
"He was totally wiped out."
The teenager was rushed to hospital and underwent two operations to save his sight.
Ms McPhillips said her son later developed a bacterial infection and was only being discharged three weeks after the assault.
"He's had two operations on the eye and the doctors said he'd lost 25 per cent of his vision had been lost," she said.
"The socket wall had collapsed.
"They said they're surprised he wasn't left brain damaged or dead, so he has a long road to recovery.
"We could easily have been burying him.
"It will take him months to recover, it will be months down the line before he's properly on the mend."
Ms McPhillips said they were speaking out about Kyle's ordeal to raise "awareness of the dangers out there".
"These kids were sober, they weren't messing about and this idiot just came at him," she said.
"We've been told he was very lucky, it could have been much worse."
Mr Hyndman added: "He's only just out of hospital and he's still not himself. We're just glad he's here to tell the tale.
"We want the best for him, nobody wants anything like this to happen to their child."
A PSNI spokeswoman said officers "continue to investigate" the attack.
"A 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm," she said.
"He was interviewed and subsequently released on bail pending further enquires.
"Enquiries are continuing and I would appeal to anyone who witnessed any suspicious activity or has any information to contact police."
