Fire survivor strips down to underwear to show off scars

A courageous woman who suffered extensive burns in a coach crash in the Alps has stripped to her underwear to reveal her scars for a photography campaign. Catrin Pugh, 23, volunteered to pose for photographer Sophie Mayanne to challenge people's perceptions of victims who suffer scarring. The photos form part of the Behind The Scars project, which celebrates scars of all shapes and sizes and the stories behind them.

Catrin, who was 19 at the time of the accident, was left with only the soles of her feet unburned after a fireball engulfed the coach she was travelling on in the French Alps in 2013.
She was given just a one in 1,000 chance of survival after she was pulled from the wreck and sustained 96% burns. But after 200 operations and three months in an induced coma, she has been rebuilding her life. She is studying an adult access course in bio-sciences and is aiming to go to university later this year to read physiotherapy.

Catrin, who now lives in Chester, said she wanted to inspire anybody with disfigurements not to be ashamed and be more confident about their bodies. Catrin is believed to be the oldest person in the world to survive such severe burns.