A FATHER-OF-TWO left scarred for life after acid was thrown in his face had an emotional reunion with the paramedics who saved him from even worse injuries.
Wayne Ingold, 56, was the victim of a random acid attack as he went to collect his post from the communal hallway of his flat in Bramble Road, Witham, last month.
Paramedic Darren Chambers and emergency care assistant Paul Maurer were first on the scene at around 10.45am on August 8 and their quick-thinking to get Mr Ingold into the shower to wash away the unknown chemical, thought to be sulphuric acid, prevented further damage to his skin.
"When we first saw him, we knew we had to be quick, initially we didn't know what substance it was," said Darren, 41, who became a paramedic after leaving his job as a manager at electrical store Dixons.
"If it was an alkali chemical it could have reacted badly to water and just made it worse, but because of the smell we knew it was probably not alkali, so we carefully cut his shirt off and got him in the shower as quickly as possible.
"If we hadn't got the acid off it could have caused even more damage and burnt more deeply, making Wayne's recovery time much longer."
Mr Ingold was taken by land ambulance to St Andrew's burns unit at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, for emergency treatment.
"At first I was in complete shock, the pain was unbelievable, I thought this is going to stay with me for the rest of my life," he told the Chronicle.
"I can't thank you guys enough for your quick thinking, you saved me a lot of problems, the staff at the hospital were fantastic as well."
His injuries, however, are life-changing. His face, neck and upper body are scarred and one burn on his shoulder was so deep that doctors had to fill it with cow fat.
Wayne was even wired up to an ECG machine four times as doctors thought he had suffered four heart attacks due to the shock of the assault. "The doctors also told me I was lucky I was wearing glasses or it could have gone in my eyes," he added.
"I've had to throw away the pair I was wearing at the time because the arm just disintegrated," said Mr Ingold, who has undergone skin grafts and dental reconstruction due to his injuries.
Wayne's son, James, 29, said: "When I first got the call I thought the worst, but then when I saw my dad I weirdly felt relief, as although it is bad, it could have been a lot worse, when you compare it to other acid attacks like Katie Piper.
"The family were shocked at first, but it's just normal now."
Wayne has since appeared on Sky News to talk about his experience in a feature about the rise in gang-related acid attacks, but says he cannot carry on living in his Witham flat.
"These kind of attacks are on the increase amongst gangs in London, it's such a cowardly thing to do to a person," he added.
"Every time I shut my eyes I see the attack again.
"It's such a public injury, it's the first thing people see and sometimes people in the street or the shops stop and stare.
"It's knocked me for six. I'm always looking over my shoulder. I was happy in Witham until they did this to me."
He also managed to keep his composure in the immediate aftermath of the assault.
"Some jobs stay with you and you remember them forever," said Paul, 30, who is also based in Chelmsford.
"Wayne was handling it very well at the time, he kept very calm and was even cracking jokes in the ambulance.
"If he'd been going crazy it would have been a lot harder to treat him.
"It's good to see he is making a recovery. We don't often get to see patients after they leave hospital. Often we don't even know what's happened to them once they go into A&E, so it's nice to see he's looking much better than the last time."
Despite the psychological trauma of the attack Mr Ingold, who also suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2006, is determined to get his life back on track.
