British student disfigured in terrible car crash while on a trip to volunteer in West Africa

A British student was left scarred for life after a horrific road accident on the first day of a trip of a lifetime to West Africa.

Phyllida Swift, 22, from Chester, Britain was on her way to volunteer in Ghana when a minivan she was travelling in collided with a coach - leaving her with severe injuries to her face as well as a broken spine, ribs and hips.

Although Arts University Bournemouth student Phyllida sustained a catalogue of injuries in the crash - including severe facial wounds, several broken ribs and a broken spine - she is determined to remain positive.

She said: 'I'm not a religious person but frankly, given the accident, I'm grateful just to be alive and to have the loving friends and family that I do.

'In the grand scheme of things, that's what truly matters, not the superficial, trivial stuff. There's no use dwelling on the past and trying to debate what things would be like if it were different.

After the fatal accident, a fellow passenger flagged down a passing coach, which took the injured passengers, including Phyllida, to the nearest hospital - a tiny, remote building, miles from anywhere.

There medics stitched up her face in the waiting room.

The next day, she was transferred to a bigger, better equipped hospital where surgeons undid and redid the original stitching.

Remarkably, Phyllida's mobile phone was not damaged in the crash, so she was able to contact home and explain what had happened, as well as contacting her travel insurance company.

When she saw her face and the extent of her injuries she freaked out.

She added that rather than dwelling on the past, she has returned to university and has been working with charity Changing Faces, which supports people living with conditions, marks or scars that affect their appearance.

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No one has been prosecuted in relation to the crash.

See more pictures of her recovery in Pulse Gallery.

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