French Alps 'horror film' crash burns victim wins payout

Catrin Pugh captured the stages of her recovery since the coach crash in 2013

A woman who suffered burns to 96% of her body in a crash in France has won a £1m-plus settlement.

Catrin Pugh, 22, from Rossett, Wrexham, was returning from a ski season, when a coach burst into flames, killing the driver and injuring passengers.

She was given a one in 1,000 chance of survival, spent three months in a coma and has had 200 operations since the French Alps crash in 2013.

The seven-figure settlement was reached with the owner of the coach firm.

Her bus crashed as it travelled down a steep mountain road which features 21 hairpin bends near Alpe d'Huez, killing the 63-year-old driver.

"I remember being on fire. It's a feeling that's very difficult to describe," she said.

"You just feel very numb everywhere and I have since learned that's because it had burned through my nerve endings."

When she was pulled from the wreckage, medics gave her little chance of surviving, with Ms Pugh describing it as "like a scene from a horror film".

She added: "I thought I was going to die.

"I remember them asking me where it hurt the most and me screaming 'it hurts everywhere'."

Ms Pugh was among more than 50 passengers on the coach when it crashed near Alpe d'Huez

Ms Pugh, who was 19 at the time, is believed to be the oldest person to survive such severe burns that ravaged her body from her scalp to the soles of her feet.

She spent eight months at a specialist burns unit in Merseyside, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, had to learn to walk again and still struggles to grip things.

But she said the most devastating blow was losing her sight, with her recently told damage is permanent.

She added: "My eyes didn't get burned, but because I was so ill and nearly lost my life on a number of occasions, it caused my optic nerve to get damaged.

"I have been left with no central vision and that's what you use to see detail. I can't see people's faces.

"I will walk into a bar and I won't be able to see my friends until I'm a foot away from them."

Ms Pugh said the undisclosed total she received will help pay for care.