A teenage victim of an Ashford town centre knife attack was told he came close to death, he has revealed.

Charlie Carolan, of Tennyson Road, South Ashford, suffered a serious cut to his face and another to his chest in Bank Street.

Doctors told the 19-year-old (pictured right) if the injuries had been millimetres either side, he could have died.

He and eight others had been out drinking to celebrate friend Tony Brown's 19th birthday before going to Liquid and Envy nightclub at East Hill.

Four of the friends, who knew each other from Christ Church School – now the John Wallis Academy – were walking home when the attack happened at about 3.50am last Tuesday.

Charlie was left slumped outside Lloyds bank with multiple wounds, the largest of which was a long cut from the corner of his left eye and through the cartilage in his nose.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old friend Ashley Curtis suffered a serious injury outside Clinton Cards, which left his thumb sliced down the middle.

He needed reconstructive surgery to his thumb at East Grinstead Hospital, Sussex, which specialises in plastic surgery.

Friends Joe West and Charlie Carolan were injured in a knife attack

Joe West, 18, of Upper Denmark Road, recalled sitting next to Charlie in a pool of blood and holding Charlie's head up so he could breath while the emergency services were called.

Joe, a Co-op supervisor who himself suffered a broken rib and a cut to his arm, said: "It sounded like he was struggling to breathe. I was worried he was slipping away.

"It was pretty scary at the time. It looked like it was raining blood, it was everywhere. It was a really nasty scene."

Charlie, who works at Iceland in the High Street, said: "I just remember being sat there and being covered in blood and then just waking up in hospital. They had bandaged my whole face."

His mother Dawn said: "It was absolutely horrendous. I don't know how to put it into words. In A&E that night you could not see him for all the blood.

"Two lots of teams told Charlie he could have lost his life."

Police cordoned off Bank Street, in Ashford, after the attack

Charlie added: "It nearly punctured my lung and here (pointing to the cut above his eye) it was a couple of millimetres from the edge of my brain."

He spent four days at William Harvey Hospital, where he had multiple stitches to cuts to his arm, hip, chest and nose, which also required a metal plate to be inserted in a three-hour operation.

Charlie said: "They've done a good job in hospital. They've looked after me. They looked after all of us really."

The teenagers have been inundated with messages of support from friends, many of whom have visited them in hospital. "They've all been there for us," said Charlie. "It's been nice."

While their wounds are healing, Charlie and Joe said they were struggling to sleep and suffered flashbacks about the attack.

Charlie said: "It's mostly the shock to be honest. You hear about it a lot but you don't ever think it will happen to you."

Forensics officers gather evidence in Bank Street, Ashford, after the attack

Hitendru Limbu, 21, of Quantock Drive, Ashford, has been charged with two counts of causing grievous bodily harm and with possessing an offensive weapon – a 24cm bladed knife – in a public place. Limbu entered no plea when he appeared before Canterbury magistrates and was remanded in custody.