A TEENAGER described by his mother as a gentle giant has been left seriously injured after a vicious attack.

Tom McKurdy, 19, of Victoria Street, Maidstone, was repeatedly punched in the face by a group of youths following a disagreement at a friend's 18th birthday party.

He suffered a fractured jaw, fractured cheek bone and bruising as a result of the late-night assault outside County Hall in Week Street.

The 6ft 6in teenager, who works as a lifeguard at Maidstone Leisure Centre but has ambitions to be a firefighter, remembers little about the night's events.

He said: "I remember being in the party at the Maidstone Mail Centre and having a good time on the dance floor, then going out into the corridor, where I saw the group having a go at my friend. I tried to get him out of the door.

"We started to walk down the road. I heard lots of noises coming up behind us and we were surrounded by the gang. I was knocked unconscious and the next thing I remember was waking up in the ambulance."

Mr McKurdy was taken to Maidstone Hospital after the attack which happened at the about 11pm on Friday, October 31, but his injuries were so severe that he was transferred overnight to a surgical unit in East Grinstead in Sussex.

Doctors who reconstructed his shattered jaw have told him that nerve damage may last for the rest of his life.

His mother Sally said: "I was so shocked why someone could attack someone who is such a gentle giant. It was completely unprovoked. He's not got an ounce of malice in him."