Wrexham Alps fireball victim joining forces with acid attack model charity

A woman whose best friend was horrifically burned in a coach crash is to scale Africa’s highest mountain in support of the charity that helped her friend recover.

Grace Thorne is raising money for the Katie Piper Foundation, which was set up by a model who was badly disfigured in an acid attack by her jealous ex-partner.

The Foundation helped Catrin Pugh, the 23-year-old from Rossett who sustained burns to 96% of her body during a coach crash in the Alps in 2013.

Miss Thorne, who has been friends with Miss Pugh since they met aged eight, said: “I have wanted to climb Kilimanjaro for a long time and suggested to Catrin that I do it for the Katie Piper Foundation, which is a fantastic charity and I have seen what they have done for her.

“I have always had an adventurous streak in me – I once did a skydive for the British Heart Foundation – and I am really excited, though a little nervous, about the Kilimanjaro trip.

“Over the next few months I’ll improve my fitness. I’m going to go to the gym and start running.”

Miss Pugh, who also supports similar charities such as Changing Faces, recently walked up Snowdon with members of her family but as she still has physical limitations she sees herself in more of an ambassadorial role for the Foundation.

In that capacity she visits other burns victims throughout the country to explain how the future may not be as black as they feel, and is also a motivational speaker.

Miss Pugh now has her sights set on becoming a physiotherapist, specialising in helping burns and disfigurement victims.

She said: “I am comfortable with people seeing my scars, and I hope I can help others who have been disfigured.”

“It will probably help to be able to show to people that things do improve and it is possible to be comfortable with one’s scars.”