A Liverpool fan has spoken of fearing for his life after he was attacked with a needle amid terrifying scenes in Paris.
Brad Young's dream weekend in the French capital turned into a nightmare after he and his friends were targeted by local gangs on the way out of the Stade de France. Brad, 24, had won tickets to the final in a competition just days before the match after missing out in the ballot.
Brad, from Belfast, said: "We actually booked flights and accommodation as soon as the final got moved to Paris. We couldn't get tickets but were just going to go and watch it in the fan zone. I couldn't believe it when I won the competition and won tickets just four days before the final."
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Brad and his friends travelled to Paris and said the atmosphere in the Liverpool fan zone was 'brilliant' before the match. They managed to avoid some of the worst of the scenes outside the ground before the game, as thousands of Liverpool fans were forced into dangerously small areas before being targeted with pepper spray and tear gas by French police.
But it was after the match when the nightmare really began. Brad said: "It was a strange atmosphere inside the stadium, there were so many empty seats and then there were lots of locals suddenly coming in to our section, we didn't know what was going on.
"When we left after the game it turned so sour so quickly. We walked into clouds of tear gas and the police were hitting fans who weren't moving, but they couldn't physically move."
Once out of the stadium, Brad said he became aware of large numbers of local people and gangs who were targeting Liverpool fans trying to make their way back to their hotels. He said: "It felt like they were hunting us, they were running up and shouting in our faces, suddenly lots of fans started sprinting away. I honestly was in fear for my life."
Further along the route home, Reds fans were still being chased by local gangs. Brad added: "We didn't know what was going on or where we were but we wanted to get away. It was terrifying. At that point someone tried to grab my friend's watch and I felt a grab on my shoulder, I had no idea what had happened."
Having finally got back to his hotel and crashed out, Brad awoke concerned about a mark he could feel on his shoulder. He said: "I hadn't even thought it could be a needle at first, but I was watching something on YouTube about rising needle attacks in France and that made me worried."
After contacting people back home, he decided to head to hospital in Paris where a doctor confirmed his worst fears, he had been attacked with a needle and had been left with a puncture mark.
Brad said: "I felt so horrible, so anxious. I couldn't get my head around it. I am a 24-year-old lad who was supposed to be having the best weekend of my life and instead I am waiting on test results that could change everything."
He is still waiting on a range of test results and hoping there is no lasting damage from the attack. He said: "It's a completely crazy thing to happen to you. I have spent the past few days just lying in bed, unable to lift my head."
Like many fans, Brad's harrowing experience was made worse by listening to the lies and smears propagated by French government ministers and UEFA in the wake of the Paris chaos. He said: "I could not believe what they were saying, it was sickening. It fills me with anxiety to think that this country and city is set to hold major events in the next few years after what happened.
"Because of them this was the first and last final I will go to, Paris was the first time I have ever feared for my life."
