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A gay photographer was blinded in one eye by an attacker who branded him a “faggot” before throwing petrol in his face in a “horrific” incident.

Tyler Maddick fell victim to the shocking late-night attack just days after moving home to Wales.

The 20-year-old was walking home from Swansea city centre late on Thursday when a car drew up alongside him and he heard a homophobic insult moments before being covered in liquid.

He said: “I’ve just moved back to Swansea and I went out to see some friends.

“Basically I left my friend at the train station and I started to walk up towards Penlan area. I got to a road crossing and I heard this car stop up behind me.

“I was on my own, my phone had run out of battery and I heard this homophobic slur.

“Next thing I knew I’d got this liquid in my face. I ran home but I couldn’t call anyone because my phone had died.

“I washed it out as my eye was starting to burn up.”

When he went to hospital the following day he was dealt the terrible blow about the loss of his sight.

“Four years ago I had a bacterial infection on my optic nerve and my left eye lost 90% [vision] but now I can’t see anything,” he said.

“I was told there and then I’ve lost all of my vision in my left eye.

“There was just something about that day. Me and my other friend – she’s transgender – were out and somebody threw water at me and her on High Street before the petrol, at least two or three hours before.”

Tyler never thought he would be the victim of a hate crime.

He said: “To be fair I think I was more angry than anything. I’m quite a strong-minded person and it wasn’t so much that they had done it, it was the fact that they targeted me because if they can pick on me they can pick on anyone.”

When it comes to his sexuality Tyler said: “With me it’s quite obvious so I guess they must have just picked up on it.”

Andrew Davies, of The LGBT Unity Project Wales, said: “This is quite horrific.”

Tyler, who is originally from Somerset but moved to Swansea when he was four when his family inherited his grandmother’s, house has been living away from Wales and had only moved back a few days ago.

He added: “I thought at first it was water because of the shock.

“I didn’t quite realise. I could smell petrol but I thought that was from the car then I started walking for a bit longer and my face started to burn up.

“I’ve always thought ‘It’s never going to happen to me’.

“I’ve lived in Swansea for 15 years and I’ve never had a problem. I moved back about three or four days ago.”

Tyler, who is currently looking for work, has been a freelance photographer and has photographed weddings. He studied at the London College of Fashion.

He said is determined not to let the attack stop him pursuing his passion.

But he admitted he was shocked by the incident and added: “The only ever grief I have had has been people shouting from their cars.”

He said he had received dozens of messages of support following the shocking attack.

“I have had so many messages, I think I have had at least 40, my friends are being very supportive.”

Mr Davies added: “It is unusual to see anything that violent.

“There’s still a lot of hatred that goes around. Recently Plaid Cymru have talked about the increase in hate crime in South Wales but it’s not an increase in crime – it’s an increase in people reporting it.

“And there’s been better relations between the LGBT community and the police.”

Earlier this year Jeff Cuthbert AM, at the time Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, launched an initiative to tackle hate crimes.

Speaking at the launch of Tackling Hate Crimes and Incidents: A Framework for Action at the Millennium Stadium, Mr Cuthbert said: “My message to victims of hate crime across Wales today is that we want you to have the confidence to report [what has happened] and that action will be taken. Hate in any form will not be tolerated. A culture where victims feel they have to suffer in silence is not going to be tolerated any longer.”

He added: “We want our young people and children to grow up in a Wales where people are accepted for who they are and are not judged for the colour of their skin, their sexual orientation, their gender identity, their disability or their age.”

The All-Wales Hate Crime Reporting Centre received 1,810 reports in the 2012/13 financial year but Mr Cuthbert added: “We also know that this is the tip of the iceberg and many people don’t report hate crime.”

A South Wales Police spokesman confirmed officers were investigating the incident and said: “I can confirm that we are investigating an incident where a man has reported that he has had petrol thrown at him while walking along Pentregethin Road, Gendros, in Swansea at approximately 22.30pm on Thursday night.”