Yazmin Oukhellou reveals scars from tragic car accident after crash that killed boyfriend Jake
TOWIE star Yazmin Oukhellou has revealed her heavily scarred arm in a new picture.
The 28-year-old was forced to break her own arm to escape the car wreckage which killed Jake McLean, 33, in Turkey earlier this year.
Yazmin, who is suffering from PTSD since the horror smash, bravely revealed the markings on her arm – her daily reminder of the incident.
She shared a quote alongside the image, which read: “Every scar that you have is a reminder not just that you got hurt, but that you survived.”
But while her physical scars are healing, the mental recovery is a far more painstaking and harrowing process.
In the days and weeks following the accident, Yazmin revealed she would torture herself over whether it might have been better if she’d died too.
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Speaking to The Sun’s Fabulous magazine over the weekend, she said: “I said that to my mum quite a few times.
“‘Why am I here? Why have I survived this?’ I didn’t understand why I’d lived and Jake hadn’t. I was angry that he’d gone and that I was still here.
“I felt anxious and sick and thought I was never going to be normal again. How was I ever going to get over this? Because I’m never going to unsee what I saw.”
Jake and Yazmin had been in an on-and-off relationship for the past four years.
At the time of the accident, they were off, but she had flown to Turkey – where Jake was holidaying – for a long weekend when they hoped they could rekindle their relationship.
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Before the horror crash, the pair had been out to dinner and to a club in Bodrum with a group of friends.
Afterwards, Yazmin nodded off in the car while Jake drove them to a friend’s villa, but awoke to the Mercedes saloon plunging down a rocky verge, having swerved off the road on a tight bend.
When it came to a halt – upside down and crushed – Yazmin’s right arm was trapped behind her back, stuck through the open sunroof. Jake was unconscious next to her and she could feel her arm was covered in blood.
She knew she would have to break it to escape.
She explained: “I tried to wake Jake up, but he wasn’t waking. I tried to beep the horn with my foot, but I couldn’t reach it. We were in the middle of nowhere and so screaming for help wasn’t any good.
“I knew I had to get out of the car and somehow I found the strength to free my arm by lifting it with my left hand, moving my right arm up and dropping it back down for what felt like forever until I snapped it free.”