SCARRED FOR LIFE

Mother tells of anguish as young fan is hit in face with pyro at Dundee FC game

- IONA YOUNG

A YOUNG football fan's mum told how she could smell his skin burning after he was hit by a flare.

Dundee supporter Levi Rennie, 10, was left scarred for life when he was struck in the face at McDiarmid Park on Saturday during his team's clash with rivals St Johnstone.

His mum Sheree, 49, said she will never forget the smell of her little boy's burning flesh as the horror unfolded.

She told the Record: "We saw flares being lit before kick-off and Levi was hit right at the start of the match. He tried to duck, but it got him in the face.

"I remember jumping up and running towards him. The smell was terrifying. It had burned through his hoodie, which he had already pulled up to protect himself from all the smoke." The flare burned Levi's cheek and scorched a hole in his forehead, above his eye. He was rushed to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee for treatment.

Sheree said the schoolboy, from Tayport in Fife, was left badly shaken by his ordeal and medics told the family he could have been blinded.

She continued: "When we were in the ambulance, he kept asking me, 'Am I still burning? The stench of his skin was so strong and I know that has had a big impact on him.

"When we got to the hospital, doctors told us that Levi could have lost his eye because the flare just missed it by millimetres.

"My wee boy could have lost his sight and have had to go through life with an eye missingthat is how dangerous pyros can be.