A councillor whose younger brother suffered third degree burns in a terrifying kitchen accident says the incident highlights the need for Ashford to keep its accident and emergency department.

Brendan Chilton, Labour ward member for Stanhope on Ashford Borough Council, desperately called the ambulance after discovering brother Dion writhing in agony on the kitchen floor following a concentrated steam explosion.

Dion, a maths student at Kent University, said he feared he was going to go blind after the protein shake beaker that he was sterilising “exploded in his face”.

The 19-year-old poured boiling water into the flask but it created too much steam and as the pressure built up, the flask exploded.

Dion was rushed to hospital by ambulance after the accident around 7pm on Sunday.

He said: “I poured water from the kettle in a small flask, put the lid on and where the water was boiling and there was too much steam it just exploded in my face.

“All my skin started peeling off my face.

“I could only see black and I was panicking that I had lost my eyesight.”

“My brother phoned the ambulance. It arrived four minutes later and I got blue lighted to A&E in Ashford.

“They cleaned my face in the ambulance and got a dressing on it straight away to stop the bleeding.

“When I got to the hospital they took me straight into a little room. They did blood tests, checked my heart rate and cleaned my face up again, they were brilliant.”

Luckily, Dion has been told he will not suffer any permanent damage or scarring and is expected to regain full sight.

"All my skin started peeling off my face. I could only see black and I was panicking that I had lost my eyesight..." - Dion Chilton

He added: “I was checked over by an eye specialist who said all the inside of my eye had been burnt and scratched.

“But she said it is going to be fine and I won’t lose my sight. It is definitely getting better and in about a week I should be able to open both my eyes.

“They have warned me that when my new skin repairs it should be like baby skin, really sensitive.

“It could take six months before it goes back to the normal pigment and hardens up.”

Dion and his family have praised the service he received from the NHS staff and warned that the situation could have been much worse without the immediate help.

Dion said: “They were brilliant.

“My sister and mum felt a bit faint and sick when they saw the skin on my face so the doctors then did a brilliant job of looking after them too!

“I don’t want to think about what would have happened if the A&E department wasn’t in Ashford.

“I suppose my warning is just to not let me sterilise your flasks!”

Dion’s older brother Brendan said the experience highlighted the need for an A&E department in Ashford.

He said: “The service provided in accident and emergency was exemplary.

“Unfortunately, A&E at the William Harvey is under threat.

“Ashford needs its A&E department, as I have experienced first hand.

“We must oppose any closures and work to protect our NHS at all costs.”

Closing the A&E department at the William Harvey Hospital is an idea being considered by the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHFT) to make up an £8 million black hole in its finances.

The trust, which runs the William Harvey, Kent and Canterbury and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in Margate, has said having a single A&E department in east Kent is one option it is considering in its “essential” reshuffle.

The trust says no decision has been made and public consultations on ideas will take place later in the year.