A transgender person has fractured their own ribs by wearing a binder to hide their breasts.

Tor Smith, 22, from Toxteth, Merseyside, has been wearing a vest-type binder since coming out as openly trans three years ago.

Now Tor, who is non-binary, wants surgery to remove their breasts and is trying to raise £7,000 for private treatment after being faced with a six year NHS waiting list.

The charity worker explained how since hitting puberty at 12-years-old they always felt 'uncomfortable' with their chest.

Tor Smith has been wearing a vest-type binder since coming out as openly trans three years ago. They are now trying to raise £7,000 to pay for private surgery to remove their breasts

In a bid to hide their breasts Tor would wear baggy clothing, but when they started at the University of Liverpool 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.

Tor 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.

Tor, pictured, said the binder damages their ribs regularly and two years ago they were 'cracked quite significantly' from wearing it

'Most of the time I am as good as I can be with the binder, 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. 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.'

Tor said they have been on an NHS waiting list to have an appointment with a gender doctor but for a year and a half, but their dysphoria and pain has gotten worse.

Tor said they have 'no choice but to go private' as a wait for surgery could be another six years and they 'cannot wait that long for my own health'.

It was when Tor started at the University of Liverpool that they decided to start wearing the binder and they hadn't considered surgery yet.

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.

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 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.'

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 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.'