Farmer looked death in the face

A RECOGNISABLE smile that beamed out from behind bandages was all that once held burns victim John Heffernan's family together.

Nearly two years later, the 23-year-old is rebuilding his life after a tragic New Year's Day fire ravaged farmland near Junee, in southwestern NSW, and changed his life forever.

The popular farmer and football player, a second cousin of Liberal senator Bill Heffernan, received third-degree burns to 80 per cent of his body while trying to save the family farm.

Speaking for the first time since then, he said the road to recovery had been slow but he was not looking back.

"Burns seem to be one of the cruellest injuries in the world. They affect your whole body - not just the outside but also internally," Mr Heffernan, one of seven children, said.