A schoolboy who was turned into a 'human fireball' when an aerosol can exploded in his face during a camping trip has made a miraculous recovery.
Aiden Kelly suffered horrific burns when the pressurised can exploded in his face as he leaned over a campfire.
The 15 year old's hair and face were set alight leaving him covered in scabs which doctors feared would never heal.
But just weeks later his skin grew back - without his distinctive freckles.
Aiden, from Havant, Hants, said: 'I think it's turned out quite well actually.
'I really wanted to get rid of the freckles before because I didn't think they looked very good. Then I got burnt - and this was the upside to it.
'I could have ended up with a lot of scars all over my face, but now it looks as though it never even happened.'
Aiden was camping with friends in May last year when one of the group threw an aerosol onto their campfire and the pressurised can exploded in his face.
The explosion set his hair alight and caused serious burns to his face and arms.
Aiden rolled on the ground to put out the flames while one of his friends called his own father from a mobile phone.
The man took the injured boy back to his nearby home to hose him down with cold water before calling an ambulance.
Aiden spent eight days at the specialist burns unit in Salisbury District Hospital, Wiltshire after the horrific incident.
His worried mother Geraldine Kelly arrived just as her son was being helped into the ambulance.
The 40 year mother of two said: 'After it happened it looked like all his flesh was falling off. It was absolutely horrendous, he didn't have any skin left on his nose.
'Some of the burns were quite deep and we thought he would be permanently scarred.
'Aiden was in terrible pain and they had to give him plenty of morphine at hospital so he could cope.
'Thankfully he didn't have to have skin grafts - he was really lucky.'
She said that over time his burns just peeled off and he moulted like a snake.
'Now he's absolutely fine. He's even lost his freckles which he is really pleased about,' Mrs Kelly said.
For the past six months the teenager has followed a strict regime to help his skin grow back, including daily applications of special ointments and avoiding sun exposure.
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