IT was an ordinary night out in Belfast. Peter Kavanagh finished work at the local chippie on Friday evening, grabbed a quick shower and change of clothes, then set off with friends for the Duke of York pub in the city centre.
It's a lively spot where up and coming rock bands play. There was great fun that night. The pints were flying. One of the lads got a girl, so Peter (18) headed home with Anthony Devlin (17), a childhood friend.
They lived in the Short Strand, a small nationalist enclave in east Belfast. It's a 10 minute walk from the city centre. The 700 families who live there feel isolated. They are surrounded by the loyalist Newtownards, Woodstock and Cregagh Roads.
At the junction of Bryson Street and the Newtownards Road, Peter and Anthony saw three nationalist youths fighting with three loyalist youths. Peter ran over.
"He didn't go out looking for trouble," said his mother, Nancy Kavanagh. "But a fight had started, and he went to help his own side. He had taken a lot of drink."
Suddenly, two car loads of loyalists arrived adult men armed with sticks, spikes and handicraft knives. They laid into the nationalists. The others managed to run away, but Peter was trapped.
"They kicked and beat him," said Mrs Kavanagh. "They tried to cut off his nose. It was left hanging by only a bit of tissue. They cut bits off his ear and tried to cut his throat. His neck was covered in slash marks."
Peter was left lying on the ground, bleeding and unconscious. He was taken to the City Hospital and put on a life support machine. The doctors stitched his nose back on. They told his mother lie could die. He was anointed twice by a priest.
He was moved to the Royal Victoria Hospital where he is now described as "stable and comfortable". However, his head is swollen "like a balloon", according to his mother. It's too early to tell, but he may have sustained brain damage.
"Peter never gave me any trouble," she said. "He never brought the police to my door. He was a six footer, a lovely big fellow, even if I say so myself.
"He was no angel he liked a drink. But there was no badness in him. He stopped Catholics beating up a Protestant boy once. He wasn't interested in politics or paramilitaries. He just wanted a good time."
"Peter loved life," said his sister Caroline (22). "He was mad about music. He was really into Leonard Cohen and Oasis. We would turn up the volume and dance in the front room. The neighbours must have thought we were nuts."
Peter was on a joinery youth training programme. He received £30 a week and gave his mother £20. He worked in a chip shop at nights for extra money. His mother gave him £100 on his 18th birthday a fortnight ago.
"He bought a Ralph Lauren coat," she said. "He was wearing it when he was attacked. It was ripped and covered in blood. The doctors had to cut if off him."
Mrs Kavanagh, who is unemployed, has lived in the Short Strand all her life. Her home is a palace. Everything is immaculate, the frilly lace curtains, red leather sofa and deep blue carpet. A row of "Get well" Mass cards lines the marble fireplace. Peter's stereo sits in the corner.
The Short Strand, an area of 70 per cent unemployment and massive social deprivation, is one of Belfast's worst sectarian flash points. At least every month a Catholic or Protestant is beaten up by the "other side".
Mrs Kavanagh said the situation is worse for nationalists because their small community is hemmed in by loyalists.
"You don't feel safe going to the shops up the road. It's worse for the young lads because there is nothing to do at night here.
"They're risking their lives walking home from the pubs in the city centre. Usually they can't get or afford a taxi."
Mrs Kavanagh is totally opposed to any revenge attack being mounted on loyalist youths. She wouldn't want any Protestant mother to "endure what I have endured over the past few days"
She is interested only in Peter's recovery. She knows he could be brain damaged. "But I will take him home from hospital and look after him for as long as it takes," she says, "because I am his mother and I love him."