TWO years ago a night out in Newport ended in a vicious alkali attack which nearly cost its 17-year-old victim an eye.

Now, as a spate of similar attacks rocks the city, he tells JENNY BRENTNALL about the moment which changed his life forever.

BURNING pain shot through Alex's* eye, his vision blurred and he felt his face begin to swell up.

Just moments before the 17-year-old had been enjoying a night out in Newport, at a fundraising party to help send a former schoolmate from Bassaleg School to do voluntary work in China.

But at around 11.30pm, as he walked back up Clarence Place towards the city centre, three cars filled with youths pulled up and the people in the cars got out.

Within seconds Alex's life had changed forever.

Without a word, one of the youths squirted a mystery liquid at his face.

The strong alkaline chemical solution nearly cost Alex his left eye and the sight in that eye will never recover.

Two years later, he has now come to terms with the devastating cost of the mindless act which took just moments to tear all his future plans apart.

At the time of the attack, he was mid-way through a college course specialising in sport, hoping to become a lifeguard or sports teacher.

He played tennis almost every day and played rugby at county level.

At the time of the attack, Alex had no idea how serious the injury was.

He said: "After it happened I covered my face and turned. I wanted to run but I was too dazed.

"One of my mates ran to TJs and grabbed a bottle of water, which I poured in my eye.

"But I didn't have a clue what it was - I thought it might be pepper spray."

Not wanting to ruin his friends' night, Alex decided not to go to hospital, hoping the pain would be gone by morning.

But the next day the swollen skin around his eye was sticking out five inches from his face and the skin under his eye was badly burnt.

By the time he got to hospital his eye was so swollen he could not open it.

He was admitted for an operation, which involved taking stem cells from his good eye and stitching them onto his damaged one.

"When I woke up I couldn't see out of either eye and I was in horrible pain," he said.

But the ordeal was not over and another two operations followed at a specialist centre in Nottingham, where experts stitched amniotic membrane over his eye to promote healing.

After around six weeks in hospital, doctors had managed to save Alex's eye, but it remains incredibly fragile and sensitive to sunlight.

"I still have to be careful.

"The outer layer of the eye is so thin and irregular it could split at any time.

"But there were times I thought I would lose the eye and times I thought I might be blind."

As it is, his vision has not recovered in the damaged eye and he can make out shapes, but without any detail.

He was forced to stop his college course and is unable to play most sports, because his vision and hand-eye coordination were affected.

Instead he has retrained and currently works in finance.

But although he has carved out a new future for himself, he cannot forgive his attackers and says the current spate of incidents brings back painful memories. No one has been arrested over the attack.

He said: "I just feel pure hatred towards them.

"It's not only the way it affected me, but the fact it was completely unprovoked.

"What people are getting from this, I just don't know. It is mindless."

*not his real name