AN OTLEY teenager who survived the Manchester Arena attack is heading to Africa to 'give something back'.

Eighteen year old Carys Crow was one of thousands of young Ariana Grande fans who attended the fateful show on May 22, 2017.

She had gone to the concert - at which 22 people were killed and hundreds injured by suicide bomber Salman Ramadan Abedi - with her best friend.

Both girls escaped physically unharmed but are still, like many others, struggling to recover emotionally.

Carys, who is a keen singer, says she was overwhelmed by the love and support she was shown in response to the atrocity.

It was that which enabled her to get back on stage last autumn to perform again, and has given her the courage to re-engage with the world.

It also inspired the former St Mary's School, Menston student to co-found the Manchester Survivors Choir.

Now she is preparing to set off for Kenya to spend two and a half months helping a local community through a Voluntary Service Overseas project.

She said: "I’m taking a year out to hopefully find the me I lost after Manchester, to gain strength and to give back the love I received.

"I went to the arena concert with my best friend Ella and, although we weren’t physically injured, the mental scars are still something we work on daily.

"I live the life I do now in order to fulfil my life, in memory of our angels.

"I always knew I wanted to help people in life and make a difference, but after Manchester I was too scared to even leave the house.

"It took months for me to realise that love will always win over hate.

"It was love that drove me to create the Manchester Survivors Choir, which now has over 60 members.

"It’s these survivors who have helped me feel strong and brave enough to be able to get back into the world and make that change I hoped to all along."

Carys will be in Kenya from October 4 to December 14, when she will be helping to create employment opportunities and teaching in local schools.

Her placement is through the International Citizen Service (ICS) programme, with the UK Government covering 90 per cent of the costs.

Carys has to raise the remaining ten per cent - £800 - herself, so has started a fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/carys-crow .

While in Africa she'll be wearing a T-shirt that will bear the logos of all her business sponsors - along with the names of the 22 people who died at Manchester Arena.

Her future plans, meanwhile, will see her combining her musical talent with her desire to change the world for the better.

She said: "I’m currently writing a song to hopefully be released as a charity single next year, to raise money for the Foundation4Peace and Childline as they’ve been a huge help to me throughout my recovery.

"And I'll be singing at a charity event in Leeds in September, the Peace Foundation ball at the Marriott Hotel, to raise money for Manchester."