The Virginia city councilman who was set ablaze by a maniac in a ruthless personal attack faces a “long, painful and uncertain recovery” as he remains hospitalized with gruesome burns covering more than half his body.

Shotsie Michael Buck-Hayes allegedly confronted Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler, 38, at his office at Showcase Magazine on Wednesday and covered him with a flammable liquid, the Danville Police Department said. Both went outside, where Buck-Hayes allegedly set Vogler on fire, police said.

Lee Vogler ran through a building covered in gasoline in an attack investigators say stemmed from a “personal matter” that was unrelated to his work as councilman.