'Remarkable' Charlie is an inspiration for others

TEEN LEFT WITH PERMANENT FACIAL SCARS AFTER CAR CRASH RAISES OVER £20,000 FOR CHARITY

- By NICOLE GOODWIN

Charlie Graver with his mum Samantha Graver Charlie and Samantha training

MEET the inspirational schoolboy who has raised more than £20,000 for charity after a traumatic experience motivated him to make a difference.

Charlie Graver was just four years old when he suffered severe facial injuries in a car crash that left him with permanent scarring.

He was travelling in the car with his grandma when she suffered a seizure at the wheel and crashed on the A167.

Charlie was thrown from the back seat and into the seat in front and suffered a broken nose and cheekbones in the collision.

Charlie, from Chester-le-Street, spent seven days in hospital after the crash and has had to undergo several surgeries since the collision in September 2015, including a skin graft on his nose using skin from his thigh.

But since turning eight, this brave schoolboy has been on a mission to raise funds to support other people living with a visible difference.

And as it approaches 10 years since the collision, Charlie is planning to take on his latest fundraiser and add to the £21,240 he has already raised for Changing Faces by completing various fundraising challenges.