A 13-YEAR-OLD boy had to undergo a five-hour operation after being shot in the face with an air rifle.

Jordan Winstanley has been left scarred and fears he will lose some expression in his face.

He was playing with three friends on land known as Open Cast in Atherton, behind Daisy Hill Railway Station, when he fell to the ground in pain shortly after 6pm on Monday.

Jordan, of Freshfield Avenue, Atherton, said: “I didn’t know what was happening. I was told my face was covered in blood. I didn’t see anyone else nearby, I don’t know if someone was aiming at me or not.”

His quick-thinking friends called an ambulance and within minutes he was met by a paramedic from a rapid-response vehicle.

An ambulance arrived and he was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital before being transferred to the Royal Blackburn Hospital for surgery.

The pellet was wedged in his left cheek, narrowly missing his cheekbone and teeth.

Jordan had an operation on Tuesday to remove the pellet. He had nine stitches inside his mouth and three on his cheek.

The Hindley High School pupil was discharged from hospital on Wednesday afternoon with a swollen face and has been told avoid sport for two weeks.

His mum, Michelle Bleakley, aged 34, who has five children, said: “When I saw Jordan’s friends getting out of a police van I thought he had been in trouble. When the police told me what had happened, I couldn’t breathe.

“If the pellet had lodged three inches higher, it could have been in his eye or throat.

“Some people think air rifles and BB guns are toys, but they aren’t.”

Jordan who has been told by doctors to stay off school until Monday, is too scared to return to the land.

A police spokesman said: “We are making inquiries and appealing for witnesses.”

Anyone with information should call the police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.