The mum of a woman who nearly died after falling headfirst out of a van going 60 miles per hour hopes she will start to speak soon after defying all doctor's expectations for recovery, it has been reported.
Angel Lynn, now 22, has already exceeded expectations by standing up and taking her first steps after she suffered severe brain damage while trying to escape an abusive relationship with Chay Bowskill in September 2020.
At the time, Angel was a 19-year-old college student from Loughborough, Leicestershire, with ambitions to become a forensic scientist.
Always close to her parents and friends, her life is said to have changed forever when she started a relationship with Bowskill, who was controlling and abusive.
When Angel made the decision to leave Bowskill, he bundled her into the back of a van driven by a friend, Rocco Sansome. She then fell from the van at 60mph on the A6 in Leicestershire.
This morning, Angel's parents Nikki and Paddy described how their daughter is making leaps and bounds in her recovery.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Nikki said: "She's doing really well. She can write, she is taking small sips of drink and they [her physiotherapists] are standing her up now.
"They are really good. She gets a bit moody sometimes when she is being bent around but it's doing her the world of good. She's loosening up."
Nikki says Angel requires 24-hour care at the rehab unit, which cannot be disclosed for her safety.
Angel's parents said they also met with the air ambulance crew that was called to the scene when Angel was found on the carriageway.
Nikki said: "We just can't thank them enough. What they did, getting to Angel so fast, saved her life."
Bowskill was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison after being found guilty of kidnap, coercive and controlling behaviour, and perverting the course of justice.
Last year, his sentence was increased to 12 years after Court of Appeal judges said his original term for kidnapping was not enough.
Now Nikki, 48, is focused on her daughter's recovery and remains optimistic about the future.
She told The Sun: “She is communicating more and more. I know it won’t change things but I’m hoping one day she will speak and tell me what happened.”
She is able to communicate with an iPad and has told her mum she wants a "grey Audi".
Angel is also able to give a thumbs up and a thumbs down as well as high fives, her mum says.
Nikki says she visits her every day and has even taken her out shopping where she bought leggings, T-shirts, socks and handbags.
A TV documentary that follows Angel's recovery will air tonight on Channel 4 at 9pm.
Producers Wonderhood Studios said they were seeking to give victims of coercive control a voice.
The programme uses texts, social media posts, photos and calls between Angel and Bowskill to reveal her life before and after she suffered horrific injuries.
It follows her rehabilitation and slow recovery, which have left her loved ones hopeful she may yet be able to remember and communicate the details of what happened in the run-up to the kidnapping.
C4’s Will Rowson, who commissioned Kidnapped: The Angel Lynn Story, said: “Angel and her family have been so brave, choosing to share their story in the hope it will help others.”
Wonderhood Studios boss Samantha Anstiss said: “One woman is killed every three days in the UK as a result of domestic abuse so, sadly, Angel’s story will be familiar to many.”
