Last September, Wyedean schoolgirl Ashleigh Harris suffered an accident that would change her life forever.

The 14-year-old was riding a friend's horse at a farm in Mathern, near Chepstow, when it became startled, bolted and threw her off, head first.

Jacqui Harris, Ashleigh's mother, received that dreaded phone call no mother ever wants to get.

"I just thought she'd fallen off and broken an arm or something. So I just took my car keys and phone. I never expected it to be that serious. I stayed at hospital with her for two weeks."

Ashleigh was rushed by ambulance to University Hospital of Wales to be treated. The blow had severed her spinal cord, leaving her paralysed from the chest down.

"They we're logrolling her and she was really scared. We were told twice she would die. It was a pretty horrendous experience but to see her now enjoying life again is just amazing."

Five weeks later she was transferred to Stoke Mandeville Hospital were she underwent rehabilitation. Since coming out in March, she has made an amazing recovering having been back at school now for over a week.

"Wyedean School have been really good, they've even adapted the timetable so that she can have her lessons on the ground floor."

For the full story, read The Forester.