My face was on fire...I’ve never felt pain like i

A DAD scarred for life by a stranger in an acid attack said last night: “I’ve never felt pain like it — my eyes and face were on fire.”

Andreas Christopheros, 30, added: “My shirt was disintegrating and I could feel my face melting.”

But he showed amazing bravery by jokingly asking doctors for a pint of cider when he woke from a medically-induced coma.

Andreas had been left fighting for life after a man hurled battery acid in his face in a horrifying case of mistaken identity.

He said: “I opened the front door of my home and a man I had never seen before was standing on the doorstep. He was holding a large beaker in his hand.

“In one moment he shouted, ‘This is for you, mate,’ and flung his arm up toward me.

Before horror . . . proud father Andreas cuddles young son Theo

“I barely got a look at him before the acid hit my face.

”Andreas’ wife Pia, 33, rushed to help him and suffered burns to her feet as she ran through puddles of acid in the hall.

He was attacked by would-be vigilante David Phillips, who wanted revenge on someone he believed assaulted a family member, but got the wrong address.

Phillips was jailed for life on Friday after a court heard Andreas is now blind in one eye and will require dozens of operations to cover his scars.

Property developer Andreas was placed in a coma for several days in Swansea after the attack in December.

He said: “No one knew if I would wake up. They were told it didn’t look like I would survive. If I did come round, doctors didn’t know if I’d be able to see. My Cypriot parents flew over to be by my bedside with Pia.”

Pia said she was told Andreas was unlikely to survive the first night.

Daddy's heroes . . . scarred Andreas with little Theo and wife Pia SWNS:South West News Service

She said: “It was the longest night of my life. I could only look at him and will him to live.”

When he came round, Andreas was unable to speak. But he made medical staff laugh when he signalled for a pen and paper and wrote: “Can I have a pint of cider?”

Andreas feared he would never be able to see his two-year-old son Theo again and worried that the boy might not recognise him.

But he recalled: When he came to visit he said, ‘Daddy, Daddy, it’s you!’ He launched himself into my arms and clung on to me.”

The Sun on Sunday is campaigning for stricter controls of acid sales following a rise in attacks like the one on Andreas.

He and Pia were at Truro crown court, Cornwall, as Phillips was told he would have to serve a minimum of seven years.

Jailed . . . attacker Phillips SWNS:South West News Service

Andreas said: “As I walked past him, Phillips touched his heart and said, ‘Sorry.’ I said nothing.

“His actions were stupid. I don’t know how he ended up doing what he did, but I can’t see a way of ever accepting his apology.”

He admitted that since the attack “there have been times when I have howled with hysterical tears”.

He added: “My injuries will haunt me but I am determined that they are never going to overwhelm my life.

“I was a workaholic before and although I’ve thrown myself back into work and I love it, I now have no time for negativity.”