by Sarah Shaffi

sshaffi@thekmgroup.co.uk

The victim of a senseless prank says his life came close to being ruined after yobs threw an egg at him.

Nigel O’Brien was with two friends on his way to Rochester on Saturday night when the missile was thrown at him from a passing car in Station Road, Strood.

The 46-year-old has been left with a severely hurt left eye, which is still bleeding almost a week after the incident.

He said: “I thought I’d lost my eye. I was in agony and I doubled over with pain. It shook me up and it did scare me.

“I was angry at the time and I’m still angry. These people probably just thought it was fun to cover someone in egg but it came close to ruining my life.”

Mr O’Brien, who lives with partner Linda Taylor, 53, did not know what had hit him until his friend told him. The trio went to a nearby pub where the father-of-three cleaned himself up.

It was only when he saw the damage to his eye that he called his partner to take him to the hospital.

Mrs Taylor, of Cranmere Court, Strood, said: “The impact injury was horrific. The egg hit him so hard the shell cut his face in several places and the surface of both his eyes are scratched.

“We spent about six hours at casualty at Medway Maritime Hospital and had to visit another doctor at Maidstone Hospital the next day.

“I can’t emphasise the stupidity of this prank strongly enough.”

Mr O’Brien, who is a lift engineer, has been unable to drive since the incident and will have to wait three to four weeks for his vision to get back to normal.

He said: “It’s going to take weeks for my left eye to clear. At the moment it feels like I’ve got something in there that’s irritating my sight.”

Because the incident happened so quickly and Mr O’Brien needed urgent medical treatment he did not report the incident to the police.

A spokesman said: “Kent Police’s advice to those who have experienced or witnessed acts of anti-social behaviour is to report all such incidents to police so that the incidents can be investigated and appropriate action taken against those responsible.”