It should have been a night of celebration.
But an altercation in a Newcastle city centre bar changed 19-year-old Bradley Aspin's life forever.
While out celebrating a friend's birthday, Bradley was viciously thrown down a flight of stairs in House of Smith by attacker Jermaine Allen, 30.
He broke his back and said the injury will cause him pain for the rest of his life.
"It's quite lucky I'm able to walk and didn't snap my neck," Bradley told Teesside Live.
"I had two fractures to my back, I couldn't walk without a back brace. I have to be very careful with what I do.
"My back, even though it's healed, it hasn't healed properly."
Bradley, now 21, from Stockton, struggles to remember much about the incident, which happened in September 2017.
And he was shocked when he first viewed the CCTV footage of him being thrown down the stairs.
His attacker Allen evaded police and fled the scene.
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Allen was ultimately tracked down months later, before denying the offence and forcing Bradley to go through the ordeal of a trial.
"He put me through three days of emotional stress," he said.
"I had to stand up in the witness box. Because I couldn't remember anything about what happened, he just made a sob story up."
He added: "I have nothing to say about him.
"I'm thankful that justice has been served, it only took the jury 40 minutes to decide."
Allen, from Bradford, was locked up at Newcastle Crown Court last week for four years and six months.
CCTV footage played to the court showed the pair arguing at the top of a flight of stairs before Allen launched the vicious attack.
The sickening footage showed Allen aggressively approach Bradley before slapping him across the face.
He then grabbed him before launching him down the stairs.
The footage shows Bradley in a heap on the floor before his attacker fled.
Bradley said: "When I first saw it in court I had to take a step back and think 'wow'.
"I'm quite lucky to be walking to be fair."
And while Allen has started a prison sentence, Bradley said the injuries he sustained will affect him for the rest of his life.
The former Grangefield School pupil can't go to the gym and play football like he used to and said he works a desk job in customer services.
But he remains thankful that the thuggish attacker was ultimately brought to justice.
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