A woman who was left paralysed from the chest down after a car crash has been nominated for an award by one of the world’s biggest glossy magazines – Cosmopolitan.

Sophie Morgan, 27, of Hove, has been nominated for the Ultimate Campaigner Award in the Cosmopolitan Ultimate Woman of the Year Awards for 2014.

When she was just 18, Miss Morgan was driving four of her friends home when she crashed her car and suffered a fractured skull, broken jaw, crushed nose, snapped collar bone and damaged spinal cord which left her unable to walk.

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“I woke up a week later in intensive care,” Sophie recalled.

“Even though I was devastated, it was a blessing my friends weren’t injured.”

Since the accident, Miss Morgan has devoted her time to campaigning to raise awareness of dangerous driving and make people with disabilities more accepted within society, which has resulted in this prestigious nomination.

Just a year after her accident, she took part in BBC documentary Beyond Boundaries which followed an expedition of 11 disabled people through the jungles of Nicaragua.

Then in 2008, Miss Morgan appeared on disabled modelling competition Britain’s Missing Top Model which resulted in a modelling job with Stella McCartney’s Adidas London 2012 collection.

It was then she noticed how little representation there was for young disabled women.

“We were practically invisible and I wanted to change that,” she said.

After receiving letters from other disabled women Miss Morgan created the Mannequal, a fibre glass model of a wheelchair designed for mannequins which was used by Adidas and Debenhams.

Last year she filmed a BBC3 documentary Licence to Kill aimed at educating teenage drivers on the dangers of inexperienced drivers and is also an ambassador for Drive iQ – a free online programme specially designed by traffic psychologists that allows learner drivers to simulate versions of driving in difficult conditions.

Miss Morgan said: “It explores the sometimes life-changing and fatal consequences of driving mistakes.

“I’m trying to educate young people on dangerous driving and change their attitudes.”

Sarah Rowley, CEO of Drive iQ, described Sophie’s attitude as “incredible.”

“It’s so rare to meet someone so fearless, who has gone through something so dramatic and scary,” she added.

“Sophie’s the bravest girl you'll ever meet and is changing the world for better.”