A teenager who suffered serious head injuries after she was hit by a car while crossing the road has been given the all clear by doctors to move home permanently.

Grace Currie, of Bagley, near Baschurch, was run over last September and had to be resuscitated twice at the scene. Now the 18-year-old is back at home with her family but faces her biggest challenge yet – learning to walk unaided.

Her parents Graeme and Lorraine said Grace moved back to the family home at the end of September.

They said their Christian faith had helped them through what has been a traumatic period.

The former Corbet School pupil was left in a critical condition after she was hit by a car in Newtown, Baschurch, on September 27, 2010.

Her family spent six weeks at her bedside in intensive care, where her life hung by a thread.

Mr Currie said: “She still has a way to go but she’s doing very well.

“She still has lots of ongoing therapies and she’s learning to do lots of things again because she suffered a brain injury.

“But she still has her fantastic sense of humour and is always joking with us about how glad she is to be back home.

“Her boyfriend Perri has been an amazing support too and has wanted to stay involved all the way along.

“What happened to Grace was more than life-threatening – I don’t think anybody expected her to live at first, but she’s a strong young woman.

“At the moment she has very little memory of things but what she wants most is to be able to walk again.”

He added that messages of support from 600 friends and well-wishers around the world via a Facebook page had provided great comfort to Grace and her family.

Mr Currie said the family were grateful to all those who helped Grace after the crash.

He added: “It was quite a traumatic day for Geoff Davies, the firefighter who came to her aid straight after the crash, but to say thank you Grace invited him to her 18th birthday party at Baschurch Village Hall and he came along.”

By Tom Johannsen