Get the Echo newsletter - it has never been more important to stay informed Sign me up now Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A desperate transgender person ended up fracturing their own ribs by wearing a binder to hide their breasts.

Tor Smith has been wearing a binder since coming out as openly trans three years ago.

The 22-year-old, who is non-binary, said since hitting puberty at 12-years-old they always felt "uncomfortable" with their chest.

In a bid to hide their breasts Tor would wear baggy clothing, but when they started at university began to wear a binder to flatten their chest.

However after years of wearing the vest-type binder, Tor has been left in pain and has even suffered fractured ribs.

(Image: James Maloney/Liverpool Echo)

Now they desperately want surgery to remove their breasts and are trying to raise £7,000 for private treatment after being faced with a six year waiting list on the NHS.

Tor, from Toxteth, said: "I have been openly trans for three years and part of that is that I have chest dysmorphia.

"The image of myself in my mind doesn't include my chest and it gives me so much emotional turmoil.

"Ever since I was little I didn't like my chest.

"When I started to go through puberty and develop a chest from that point onwards I felt uncomfortable with it.

(Image: James Maloney/Liverpool Echo)

"I was kind of like 'I suppose this is happening but I really wish it wasn't'.

"I would wear baggy clothes and in many ways I didn't think about it, I just sort of thought 'I like wearing baggy clothes, it makes me feel comfortable, I enjoy wearing these clothes' - I didn't think it meant I was trans.

"I just sort of thought my chest isn't my favourite part of me."

Tor said it was in the first year of their degree at The University of Liverpool that they decided to start wearing the binder.

(Image: James Maloney/Liverpool Echo)

And they said at that point they had not even considered surgery, believing the binder would be a solution.

However, apart from the pain the binder is causing, Tor said they are also restricted from just "being a human" and carrying on with their every day life.

Tor wears a half binder, which looks like a vest and is made out of a stretchy material covering their chest and top ribs.

However for health reasons the binder, which costs around £50 and needs to be changed every six months, should only be worn for up to eight hours a day and cannot be worn to sleep in.

And while Tor said they do try to maintain safe use of the binder it can become difficult when working and socilaising.

They added: "Most of the time I am as good as I can be with it, but if you just want to be a human, take a nap, stay out longer than eight hours you can't.

"So it does damage my ribs regularly by bruising them, which is manageable but obviously not ideal.

"And two years ago my ribs actually cracked quite significantly.

"I already had a problem with my ribs because I was hit by a car when I was 12 and my ribs never really recovered.

"They are fine day to day but obviously because I am wearing a binder all the time that then angers my ribs and I have asthma, so I have a lot working against me.

"I'm on an NHS waiting list to get my first appointment to see a gender doctor about all this, but I have been on this waiting list for a year and a half and my dysphoria and physical pain is only getting worse.

"And then to get surgery on the NHS could be between four and six years and I just cannot wait that long for my own health, but there is no way of speeding up that process.

"I don't have a choice but to go private."

Tor has started a Go Fund Me Page with a £7,000 target and said they are overwhelmed that almost £2,000 has already been donated, which is enough to go ahead and book appointments, which are £250 each.

Tor, who works for a charity, then hopes to be able to save the rest of the amount.

They said: "The support from people has been phenomenal.

"I was expecting maybe a couple of hundred quid from my friends and family but it's just incredible.

"It has blown my mind.

"People that I haven't spoken to for years have donated, and complete strangers."

Tor said people are generally understanding when they introduce themselves as transgender and non-binary.

They added: "I have to wear my binder because if I don't people assume I am a girl, which is entirely understandable.

"You do have to come out to everyone you meet if you want them to use your preferred pronoun.

"So I do have to deal with people's initial response to that, but once they have got their head around it on the whole they are fine.

"People see two boxes he and she, they then have to create a whole new box and then put me in it.

"But once they have got their head around that they understand much better.

"It is obviously not the most enjoyable thing in the world to have to have to give an explanation every time you meet someone new but for most people once they know it doesn't make a difference for them to call me by my preferred pronoun, but it makes a huge difference to me."

Tor said the surgery will completely change their life and allow them to do simple things which many might take for granted.

They added: "I will be able to just put a shirt on and not think about it.

"And feel a shirt against my skin.

"I will be able to exist in my own life without having to wear a binder.

"It is difficult to describe knowing who you are in your head and having that image of yourself being different to how you look.

"I am looking forward to just being able to have a nap, if I want a nap now I have to get totally undressed.

"It is going to make such a difference to my day to day life - I can't describe it.

"I am just excited - and obviously I know I am going to have big scars, but I would really rather that than have to wear a binder forever.

"I don't expect to dislike my scars because they will be a sign of who I am."

To support Tor's surgery click here .