A TEENAGER who was left with horrific injuries after she and her boyfriend were struck by lightning is looking forward to returning to school this week.

Sophie Frost and Mason Billington, both 14, were hit by the massive bolt as they sheltered under a tree in the King George V Playing Field in Rayleigh during a fierce storm.

Sophie, who had been listening to her iPod, passed out, but was carried to safety by Mason, even though he could barely see after both his corneas were burned in the strike.

She was treated for burns to her neck, chest and leg at Broomfield Hospital, in Chelmsford, but, since Thursday, has been recovering at home in Kendal Way, Eastwood.

Sophie, a pupil at Sweyne Park School in Rayleigh, said: “I’m OK, I’m better than people think.

“I just really want to be able to go out and go back to school. It’s a relief to be home.”

Sophie hopes to be back at school on Thursday.

Since the Echo broke the story last Thursday, Sophie’s plight has made headlines in newspapers and on television across the UK and Europe, and even as far away as the USA.

Sophie said: “The attention has all been quite fun.

“Everyone else seems lots more concerned than me.

“It hasn’t bothered me – it’s just attention.”

She said Mason was making good progress, and has been discharged from Southend Hospital where he was receiving treatment. However, the injuries to his eyes have not fully healed.

Sophie’s mum Julie, 44, said she was relieved her daughter was safe and sound after the terrifying ordeal.

She said: “I can’t even think the outcome could have been anything else. I’ve still got my little girl. I can’t believe it happened to her.

“I’m so thankful to the lady who drove them to hospital, and all the hospital staff.”

Julie added Sophie’s burns were healing well and the dressings had been removed on Saturday.

She said: “Hopefully, she might not even get a scar.

“I think her clothes took most of it.”

Julie also wanted to make it clear she had always warned Sophie not to stay under a tree during a storm.

She said: “It was the first thing I said to her at the hospital.

“But the storm came up so quickly it was difficult for them to get away.”