McAyla is so happy to be home (From Worcester News)

McAyla is so happy to be home

11:40am Saturday 1st November 2008

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A BRAVE 11-year-old girl knocked down at a busy Worcester junction is back home with her family after more than six weeks in hospital.

McAyla Johnston is back in familiar surroundings in Foxwell Street, Worcester, as she continues to make a remarkable recovery.

She was smiling and laughing at one of her father’s jokes as her favourite television show played in the background after returning home yesterday.

Outside, balloons and a banner read ‘Welcome Home McAyla’ - a day the family had been hoping against hope for, said her father David Lamb.

“Once we got a prognosis I wouldn’t have said she would be coming home at any point,” he said.

“But she’s tough and she’s home and wants to be home. She prefers her mum’s cooking.”

And like every youngster McAyla has already started thinking about her Christmas list.

“She’s already told me that she wants a laptop,” said Mr Lamb, with McAyala adding: “And the Eminem CD.”

Doctors told McAyla’s mother Terri and Mr Lamb earlier this week their daughter could be home and by Wednesday it was certain.

“First they said it would be for two hours and then maybe a weekend, “ said Mr Lamb. “We weren’t too keen on that, if she was coming home then we wanted to wait until she could stay home.”

It is McAyla’s progress, which has continued to delight and surprise doctors, that has allowed her to come home. The youngster is sleeping in a bed downstairs with her favourite Spongebob Squarepants duvet cover and the television remote nearby but still needs a wheelchair to get about.

“Her upper body is OK but her legs are still weak,” Mr Lamb explained.

Your Worcester News previously reported how McAyla was hit by a car in London Road, near Tesco Express on Sunday, September 7 - the day before she was due to start Nunnery Wood High School.

Emerging from an eight-day coma, doctors thought the injuries suffered would mean she would be moderately to severely disabled, requiring around-the-clock care for the rest of her life.

Now, best case predictions could see McAyla receiving school work by February next year, while there are regular visits from occupational therapists and specialists to help her mobilty and cognitive function.

Mr Lamb said: “Things are different and we have accepted that, but she’s tough and McAyla will be what she will be.”

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