An autistic teenage girl who suffered horrific facial injuries after she was battered by a gang of nine bullies has had the last laugh ? by becoming a model.
Sophie Russell, 16, had to have re-constructive surgery on her shattered face and was off school for 10 months following a brutal attack in February last year.
The attack left Sophie with serious internal bruising, a broken nose, shattered face, post traumatic stress disorder, a scar on her top lip and jaw and hip crack.
Autistic teenager has defied the bullies who beat her up and she has gone on to achieve her dream job as a model
But remarkably, less than two years later, the teen, who has Asperger?s syndrome, has recovered to reach the finals of a national modelling competition.
If she wins she will scoop a modelling contract and will appear on the front cover of a glossy women?s magazine.
Sophie was attacked by thugs who waited for her outside her school in Louth, Lincs., in February last year.
Shockingly, the mob of four girls and five boys were let off after police only handed one of them with a caution.
But Sophie, from Market Rasen, Lincs., ?thanked? her tormentors saying the attack gave her the strength to pursue her dream of becoming a model.
