THE family of a crash victim who suffered terrible neck injuries when she was flung from a car have been told she could be paralysed.

It was hoped Kathryn Gottweiss, aged 20, may eventually be able to walk again after it was discovered her spine was not broken.

But doctors say damage to the nerves in her spinal cord may be so severe, she could still face the rest of her life paralysed from the neck down.

Miss Gotweiss of Spring Meadow, Darwen, was thrown on to the motorway after a five-car smash on the M61 north of Bolton.

She was a passenger in the car of her boyfriend, David Pagett, aged 37, of Lilford Street, Leigh, when it ploughed into a Granada car allegedly abandoned on the carriageway.

At Preston Hospital, four days after her accident, revealed her spine had not been broken. But the specialist consultant told the family that Kathryn's injuries were still very severe.

She has bruising and swelling to her spinal cord along the whole of her neck and two fractured bones in her neck. It is only when Kathryn's neck begins to heal will her family know whether she may walk again.

Her mother, Diane, 42, said: "These types of injuries can be as serious as a broken neck. That is why they are unable to say what the future holds for her mobility."

Kathryn is still on a ventilator and has to wear a neck brace to keep her neck and head perfectly still.

She will eventually be transferred to Southport Hospital for specialist care but may not be moved until after Christmas.

Diane said: "We've had so many messages of support, including from people we hardly know."

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