A Shropshire teenager who suffered terrible injuries in a car crash is making a “miraculous” recovery, his proud mother said today.

Eighteen-year-old Russell Nicholls, from Quatford, near Bridgnorth, was given only a small chance of survival following the accident one year ago.

But his battling spirit pulled him through eight operations and he was allowed home months earlier than doctors expected.

His mother, Annette Nicholls, said that everyone had been amazed and inspired at how well Russell had recovered from the terrifying crash. “He is absolutely fantastic in himself all things considering,” she said.

“He takes everything in his stride and he doesn’t take no for an answer.

“If the doctors tell him he can’t do something he’ll do everything he can to prove them wrong.

“He is just absolutely full of determination, you have to admire his spirit.

“He is just not going to be beaten by it.

Mrs Nicholls, the secretary of Wolverhampton’s Woodfield Table Tennis Club, added: “It is a pretty amazing journey he has come through and his courage just amazes everyone.

“Considering his chances of survival at the beginning, it is a miracle.”

Russell, a talented table tennis player, was in a coma for three weeks following the accident on the A442 Bridgnorth to Kidderminster road on March 7 last year.

His brother Damien, an England table tennis player, escaped the accident with minor injuries.

Mrs Nicholls said Russell planned to start playing again soon, but there were plenty of other things to do first. “Just going out on his own to walk the dog is a big step for him,” she said.

“It seems a small thing, but that’s a big step at the moment.”

She said Russell’s balance and eyesight had been badly affected by the injuries he sustained in the accident, but he was making steady progress.

He regularly attends rehabilitation sessions at the Headway centre in Shrewsbury, and Mrs Nicholls said he hoped to become a volunteer when he was fully recovered.

“They all say he is such an inspiration to people because he is showing what can be done,” she said.

By Simon Alton