TEENAGE burns victim Will Reynolds is home at last after life-threatening injuries kept him in a specialist hospital unit for nearly eight weeks.

The 16-year-old suffered 50 per cent burns in an explosion at a barbecue, which set his clothes and hair alight.

Speaking for the first time since his ordeal began, Will told the Daily Echo he had thought he was going to die and said: “I still hear the flames in my head. I have terrible scars and a lot of pain but I am suffering more mentally than I am physically. This has ruined everything for me.”

But he took the time to thank well-wishers who have donated to Operation Garage, an appeal launched to convert a dilapidated garage at the bottom of his garden into a meeting place for him and his friends.

“I would really like to thank everyone – I’m not going to be allowed to go out very much because of the burns but the garage will mean I can still see my friends.”

Schoolboy Will had planned the summer of 2010 and it wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Just a couple of months ago the 16-year-old was revising for the GCSE exams he hoped would take him forward to a plumbing course at college.

And he was looking forward to a long summer with his friends enjoying watersports and other outdoor pursuits.

On May 3 a tragedy at a barbecue shattered his plans when he suffered horrific burns in an explosion.

An uninvited guest had thrown white spirit on to the coals, which led to a fireball which engulfed Will and changed his life for ever.

The 16-year-old has just returned to his home in Covena Road, Southbourne, after nearly eight weeks in Bristol’s Frenchay Hospital.

He has endured nine operations, has burns to his neck, arms and body and has had skin grafts taken from his legs.

Will’s injuries are so severe that he will have to wear a pressure suit – similar to a thin wetsuit – for 23 hours a day to help his skin heal.

And doctors cannot tell him how long his recovery period will be or to what extent the severe scarring will heal.

As a result of the accident, Will was not able to take his GCSEs at the Grange School in Christchurch – nor was his twin brother, Alex, also deeply affected by his brother’s suffering.

Will said: “I was hoping to do a heating and ventilation course but now I can’t do anything. I never wanted to be the sort of person who left school and did nothing but that’s exactly what’s going to happen now. It makes me feel bad.”

Will’s mum, Debbie, spoke of the effect on the whole family, including Will, Alex and their 13-year-old brother, Charlie.

“It has had a really bad effect on every-one,” she said.

Debbie, a single mum, has been unable to return to her job as a nurse at St Ann’s Hospital in Poole since Will was injured.

She is focusing on her son’s recovery, which includes a rigorous regime of physiotherapy and medication.

Now the family is focusing on Operation Garage, set up by friends to convert a derelict garage into a meeting place for Will and his friends.

Money has been raised through events including a sponsored car wash, a football match at AFC Bournemouth’s ground and an arts sale.

“The appeal really raised Will’s spirits while he was in hospital,” said Debbie.

And Will said he is particularly keen to thank two paramedics called Dave and Michelle, who treated him at the scene of the barbecue and also escorted him to Bristol.