That is awful.
Something similar happened to a friend of mine -- she attempted to light a cigarette via a gas stove, whilst drunk, and her hair caught fire. She lost her ear lobe (which was hard for her, because she was all about earrings), and needed skin grafts on her face. Took a very long time for her to recover, but she's ok now, thank god.
Hope your poor neighbour recovers, sending positive thoughts his way.