Towie star Yazmin Oukhellou has shared a candid photo of her scars from the horror car crash which caused the death of her on-and-off boyfriend Jake McLean.
Yazmin, 28, suffered serious injuries when the car plunged 30ft into a ditch and overturned, while they were on holiday in Turkey in July, and Jake, 33, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The TV star is in the process of "healing" and has shared an inspirational messages on Instagram, alongside a photo of the scars on her arm.
Dressed in a simple white crop top and red and white shorts, Yazmin held her scarred limb up to her forehead, with a calm expression on her face.
She wrote in the caption: "Every scar that you have is a reminder not just that you got hurt, but that you survived.” [white love heart]
Friends and followers were quick to praise Yazmin, with George Shore star Chloe Ferry posting a love heart emoji, while model Hannah Elizabeth simply wrote: "Beautiful girl."
Radio presenter Danielle Mason wrote: "U go girl sometimes I don’t think people understand what u quiet went through .. bloody a lot! Xx"
One fan wrote: "You got this Yaz. You’re a beautiful girl and in time you will heal from this in time."
Yazmin has recently spoken about how trolls have accused her of "getting over" Jake's death too quickly.
During an interview with the Sun, Yazmin said that she has received abusive messages from people criticising her for attempting to move forward after the car accident.
She said such scrutiny has been "extremely hard" to deal with and admitted those kinds of comments do affect her.
Discussing such comments, Yazmin said: "If I have dinner out with friends, these people will post saying: 'Oh, she's got over it quick.' I block those people straightaway".
Yazmin however revealed that she ends up focusing on such comments for the remainder of the day, adding that such remarks by other people make her "feel sick".
Yazmin said there isn't a day where she doesn't think about the crash, adding during the interview: "Just because I'm smiling in a picture, it doesn't mean I'm smiling inside."
She said that spending time with loved ones provides an hour or two where she can get away from her reality.
She further commented that she is very fortunate to have survived the crash, but feels as though some people continue to want her to feel pain in the aftermath.
Yazmin said that people on social media don't actually know what is going on in her life.
Speaking about her grief for Jake, she said: "It affects me every minute of the day. Just because I have a meal in a restaurant or travel abroad to work on my healing process, doesn't change that."
