Sunday Sun 2day Did anyone read the article that a reader wrote into the paper. It was a full page spread and its about charvas, goths and general appearance. it sure put a smile on my face at 8am !
Yes. READ BELOW. Fireball teenager Mark Burdis today told how he feared he'd die when a gang set him alight. Mark Burdis with friend Roxanne Mitchell. The 17-year-old was engulfed in flames after being sprayed with a flammable liquid and then set on fire. But as he reeled around in shock, his Duke of Edinburgh survival training kicked in and with the help of pals he somehow managed to douse the flames. Today, wrapped in bandages in a Tyneside hospital's burns unit, the computer technology student relived his ordeal and appealed for help to find his attackers. Mark had been walking home from an under-18s clubnight at Newcastle's Stage Door with a couple of 16-year-old pals when he came across a group of lads sitting around a fire on the riverside. "I only asked one of them the time and they growled something. "The next thing I knew, my T-shirt was alight. "I felt this burning liquid over my face and chest," said Mark. "I heard a whoosh as the flames went up. It was searing into me. I screamed in agony and my friends who had been a short distance away came running to help. "I don't know how I managed it, but my instinct was to roll on the ground to put out the flames. "I had learned to smother the flames. "But without my friends I would have been too weak. "I would have just curled up and died." Mark had been wearing his black Goth T-shirt with a picture of shock rock star Marilyn Manson on the front. The gang who attacked him were thought to be members of a rival gang of Charvers, tracksuited teenagers who favour cheap jewellery, who were carrying a flammable liquid. Friends Ross Hall and Roxanne Mitchell were horrified to see Mark alight from the chest up. They went to his aid and Ross also suffered burns to his hands as he helped put out the flames on his mate's T-shirt. "I was reeling in pain and my flesh began to blister. "The gang ran off and my friends phoned for an ambulance. "They helped me back towards the Arena where I collapsed," he added. Mark was taken to Newcastle General Hospital and transferred to the specialist burns unit at the nearby Royal Victoria Infirmary. He had treatment to ease the blisters and cool his skin with a diluted solution which also kept his skin from cracking and infection setting in. "I haven't had much sleep since it happened. "They have given me strong pain killers," said the Newcastle College BTec student who lives with his father and step mum in Bensham, Gateshead. "I have deep burns on my right hand and my left hand is also burnt. "They won't be able to assess the extent of the damage until tomorrow when the bandages come off. "I may need skin grafts and later physiotherapy to be able to use my hands properly again." Mark's dad Andrew, 37, and stepmum, Angela, 35, were at his bedside today. He has also been visited by other relatives. "As soon as his pals rang me I rushed to the hospital," said Mr Burdis. "It was sickening to see him in such a condition. "The lads who have done this should be caught. "They were obviously carrying petrol or lighter fluid with them to start a fire. "Mark's survival training helped him. He's done a Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. "He is lucky to be alive because the flames could have engulfed him." Mark who has three sisters, Sara, 19, Kimberley 14, and 13-year-old Samantha, has applied for jobs to make use of his ICT training. But he doesn't know whether he will get full mobility back in his hands. Roxanne, who saw her friend alight said: "It was awful. I keep seeing him on fire and I can't sleep. "He's been so brave. I don't know how anyone could do this." Det Sgt Mick Lindsay, of Newcastle West CID, today appealed for anyone who saw the youths running away from the scene of the attack at around 11pm on Monday to come forward. "This was a terrifying, unprovoked attack on Mark. "He had been walking home near the new Redheugh Bridge road with his pals when he saw four or five lads sitting on the grassy area. They had lit a fire. It could well be that because Mark was wearing Goth clothes and they appeared to be rival Charvers that he was set alight. "We will be checking CCTV footage from businesses around the area to see if the group were caught on camera. "Mark is lucky his friends were with him or this could have been a tragedy."
