FOR months, Glynis and Malcolm Knaggs were robbed of their daughter. Now Jenni has returned to them, and they are holding on to her for dear life.

It is hard to imagine a task more physically and emotionally exhausting.

The picture we publish tonight starkly illustrates the extent of Jenni's disabilities. A normal woman with a job and friends two years ago, she was left immobile and helpless after an operation to remove a brain tumour. Jenni did not even know her own parents.

Today, she is talking again and, most importantly, she has reconnected with Glynis and Malcolm.

Recovery is painfully slow. She needs all the love and strength of her family to make progress.

Yet Jenni is separated from them because the special care she needs is only currently available in Holme-on-Spalding Moor. The daily 50-mile journey to see her takes a heavy toll on her parents and her boyfriend Lee.

It is one of the anomalies of our health and social services system that the specific care she requires is found in places such as Holme-on-Spalding Moor and Easingwold rather than a bigger city such as York.

We have reported on similarly difficult family separations in the past: the 11-year-old autistic child whose nearest available residential care was in Doncaster; youngsters with special emotional needs being sent many miles from York while foster families were sought.

Councils and health trusts must be aware of the heartache such distances cause. Region-wide planning is the only way to ensure these specialist facilities are distributed in such a way as to minimise the number of families who become commuter carers.

In the meantime, we wish Glynis and Malcolm a speedy and successful fundraising campaign to bring their daughter home.

Updated: 11:02 Tuesday, April 13, 2004