IT HAS taken nearly two years for Brennan Clemance to recover from a glassing which not only wrecked his trip to Corfu but nearly ruined his life.
Now he has appealed for revellers to make sure they don't get involved in Christmas violence, in a bid to prevent anyone else suffering like he has.
Brennan was just 18 when, in the summer of 1999, he was slashed with a beer bottle outside a nightclub in the popular resort of Kavos.
He underwent a five-hour operation to stitch up his slashed throat, cheek and chest.
Brennan, of Surrey Road, Blackburn, needed 100 stitches and has been scarred for life - all because one man, armed with a bottle, thought the Blackburn teenager had been looking at his girlfriend 'the wrong way.'
But that was only the start of the nightmare for Brennan. It is only now, two years on, that he has been able to start rebuilding his life.
As well as having to live with the knowledge that his attacker has yet to be caught, Brennan knows he will always be nervous when going out, even in his native Blackburn.
He cites examples of being turned away from a Blackburn nightclub because the bouncer 'did not want fighters' to come in, all because of the scar on his face. And although he managed to complete college, he gave up a job in a bar after just one night when people started staring at him.
It is a hellish experience he hopes no-one else will ever have to suffer and he believes attacks similar to those on him could be prevented if plans by police and council bosses to ban drinking in public become a reality.
Brennan, who now works in a Ribble Valley hotel, said: "When I go out now, I am always spotting people carrying glasses and bottles from pub to pub. I think that if people weren't allowed to carry bottles around, it would reduce the risk of attack.
"It ruined my life for a while and it has taken a lot to get over it. I am still nervous when I go out and I don't think that will ever change."
His mother, Linda, added: "For parents, both Blackburn and Accrington are worryingly places for their youngsters to go.
"They both have bad reputations, even though we know them so well.
"People seem to think they can get away with anything. If yobbish actions were stamped down on, hopefully people wouldn't get to the stage where they think it perfectly acceptable to glass people."
A ban on drinking in the streets is part of a number of measures being implemented by the police and councils across East Lancashire.
In Blackburn, Darwen and Accrington, high visibility policing is believed to be making people feel safer at night.
In Blackburn, extra CCTV cameras and improved street lighting, along with a doorman registration scheme have helped make the town centre feel safer.
Victims in Blackburn include Sean Fletcher, who was punched in the face while handing out leaflets for a pub in Blackburn town centre last summer.
It was described by police as an unprovoked attack by police.
Sean, 22, of Haslingden, feared he could lose his sight in one after becoming another victim of a yob attack.
Sean's mother Caroline, a staff nurse, said: "Anything which can done to prevent these attacks has to be welcomed."
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