March 22, 1986, started normally enough for baby Toni Wilson, her mother Jo and grandmother Myra Cook. Myra and Jo were dropped off at a city centre hairdressers after kissing Toni goodbye. Toni was then driven by her aunt back to Acaster Malbis.

But as they came into Bishopthorpe and approached the entrance to the Archbishop's Palace, a Dutch driver coming in the opposite direction made a critical error. As he came round a bend towards them, he was on the wrong side of the road and directly in their path. Toni was badly hurt in the ensuing crash.

When word got through to the hairdressers that Toni had been taken to York District Hospital after an accident, and they had better come quick, Myra threw out her curlers and raced to the hospital. "I still had the perm solution in my hair. I was hysterical," she said.

Toni was transferred to Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, and a lengthy battle began to save her life. She twice "died" when life support equipment was switched off and had to be turned back on again. "We didn't think she would survive at all," said Myra.

On returning home, the family faced another battle - to encourage her to walk and communicate. They tried to encourage the undamaged part of the brain to do what the damaged area could no longer do, with light and sensory stimulation.

It was exhausting work that took Myra to the end of her tether, mentally and physically. "I couldn't sleep at night. I was so over-tired. I ended up getting pleurisy, pneumonia and shingles. I couldn't have survived without Mick. He lost his job taxi-ing because he had to take so much time off work."

Toni was hyperactive, and had terrible and frequent tempers. Telling her off did no good; eventually Myra discovered the most effective way of persuading Toni not to misbehave was to ignore the tantrums, while still making sure she wasn't harming herself.

For many years, there was no money to pay for professional help because there was no interim payment worth mentioning, even though liability had been admitted on the Dutch drivers' behalf at an early stage by his insurers.

Toni now has two carers to look after her throughout the day, with one needed during the night. Myra says the weekly cost of care approaches £2,000, and today's damages should ensure this bill can always be met.

She says the delays in winning damages were partly due to complications caused by the involvement of a foreign insurance company, and by the need to draw up endless reports by experts on Toni's condition and her future prospects and needs.

But she was also unhappy with the original firm of solicitors she employed to fight for the compensation.

They were later "replaced" by an experienced London firm, recommended to Myra by Gavin Campbell, former That's Life presenter and supporter of the head injuries charity Headway. Mick recommends that anyone else who falls into their position should ensure they obtain the best professional advice from people who know what they are doing.

Throughout everything, Myra has always rejected the option of sending Toni away, for example to a special school. "I cannot imagine life without her. It's like she is part of me. I have been through so much with her. If she falls and hurts, I hurt."

She says Toni now lives in a happy, fantasy world. "She doesn't know about the horrors of the outside world and enjoys herself in her own way. We give her everything she needs and she's a happy kid."

see also 'Crash victim awarded £3m'

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