A York youngster was today awarded £3 million in damages, 14 years after being brain-damaged in a road accident.

Toni Wilson, 14, who has received record damages of £3 million, with her grandparents, Myra and Mick Cook Picture: Steven Bradshaw

The settlement, approved in principle by a deputy High Court judge in Birmingham, gives long-term security to 14-year-old Toni Wilson, of Main Street, Bishopthorpe.

The award, thought to be the biggest ever made to a child from the York area, should pay for 24-hour nursing care for the rest of her life, as well as an extension to her home, new equipment and even a special sensory room.

Toni's grandmother, Myra Cook, who with her husband, Mick, looks after her, won fulsome praise from Mr Recorder Brian Leveson, QC, for "selfless devotion" to Toni.

He said she had proved tremendously resilient and extremely capable in the face of adversity.

"She is deserving of the greatest praise. It is humbling to read in papers like these of the devotion, care and utter selflessness.

"I have no doubt that were Toni able to express herself, she would have undying gratitude for the help she has received."

Mrs Cook fought back tears as she spoke of her delight that the long struggle to win damages for Toni was finally over.

"I'm just relieved it's all over after 14 years," she said.

She said she had been exceptionally nervous before today's hearing.

Her husband said: "It's been like living on a wire."

Simon Davis, of Toni's London solicitors, Stewarts, said: "This little girl deserves every penny she is going to get. It can never be enough to compensate for what has been taken away from her."

Mr and Mrs Cook revealed that they plan to take Toni on a dream holiday to Disneyworld in Florida, and to take her swimming with dolphins.

Toni's life was shattered on March 22, 1986, in the crash near Bishopthorpe Palace. The car she was travelling in collided with a vehicle being driven on the wrong side of the road by a Dutch national, Marcus Visschers.

Toni was taken to York District Hospital and later transferred to Pinderfields Hospital with severe head injuries, and doctors feared she would not survive. She twice "died" when support systems were switched off and she had to be re-ventilated.

Myra says she came home "like a vegetable," but the family never gave up on her, and battled endlessly to encourage her to walk and communicate. Toni responded by learning to walk with assistance, and she can communicate through gestures and some words.

For years, the family, living in cramped council accommodation in Bishopthorpe, struggled to look after her with no financial assistance. Myra says she was mentally and physically exhausted, going down at times with pleurisy, pneumonia and shingles. "I couldn't have managed without Mick," she said.

Toni flew into endless temper tantrums that were very tiring to deal with.

Matters eased several years ago, when an interim award was finally made, enabling the family to move into a larger bungalow and pay for carers to start taking on some of the physical burden.

Myra says the award has taken so long coming partly because of the need to get numerous medical assessments of Toni's condition.

see also 'Our 14 year struggle to care for Toni and win battle for damages'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.