They were just a few small steps - but to Emma Danskin's mum they were nothing short of miraculous.

The 17-year-old was seriously injured in a car crash last November and her family were warned that she would never walk again.

But the determined teenager is proving them wrong as she struggles to fight her way back to fitness.

Emma, a pupil at St Mary's, Menston, suffered a blood clot on the brain and almost died several times following the crash on the Otley to Harrogate road.

She suffered what was in effect a massive stroke, and doctors warned her parents Helen and Adrian that she could be left severely brain-damaged and unable to walk or talk again.

In the immediate aftermath of the accident Emma was put into a drug induced coma to keep her as still as possible.

And her family faced an agonising wait to see the extent of her injuries.

When the drugs were taken away Emma was left paralysed down the whole of her left side.

But since those early days she has made tremendous progress and is now learning to walk again.

In recent days the teenager has managed to take a few steps, helped by a dedicated team of physiotherapists and supported by walking frames.

Her progress is all the more remarkable because she has only just undergone an operation to replace a piece of bone which had to be removed from her skull to accommodate the swelling.

The operation three weeks ago was essential to her recovery but carried serious risks of injury or death.

Her mum Helen Crow, 36, a detective constable, of Burley-in-Wharfe-dale, said: "It was like going back to square one. It was very scary.

"It came with all those risks again of stroke, of more damage, or of not surviving it."

Helen went with her daughter into the anaesthetic room and then paced the hospital corridors for five hours while the operation was carried out.

She said: "They said it would last one or two hours - or in the worst case in could be five.

"One hour passed and then two hours passed and I was really getting worried. When it was all over I went into the recovery room to see her and she put her hand to her head and said 'hooray I've got a whole head, not half a head any more.'"

With the operation behind her Emma can now concentrate on rehabilitation.

And her sense of humour shines through as she jokes with her mum and her physiotherapists as she fights to regain the use of her left side.

Emma is still unable to walk unaided and her steps are slow and painful. But her progress is something her family feared they might never see.

The sight of her first steps left her mother, Helen, and her father's fiancee Sara in tears.

Helen said: "It was one of those things we were told she would not be able to achieve. Originally we were told she would never walk."

But now the medics looking after Emma are pleased with her prog-ress, and say they can see a marked difference since the latest operation.

Senior Physiotherapist Karen Wood said: "This is the start of her rehabilitation because she has been so unwell since the accident.

"She is in pain but she is willing to put the work in. She has had a big injury and only time will tell - but I think she will do reasonably well.

"It will be a long slog and a lot of hard work but I think she is prepared to do it."

Emma, whose treatments at Chapel Allerton Hospital also include speech therapy, occupational therapy and counselling, has just started reading again.

And she is now making up for lost time - avidly studying a scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about her progress compiled by her mother.

She is also eagerly looking forward to returning home later this month for a six-hour visit -her first since the accident.

She said: "I have missed my house. I haven't been there for five months and now I just want to be at home. I'm looking forward to being with mum - I count down the time in the morning until my mum is here."

Emma, who is hoping to go on to further education and become a graphic designer, is particularly looking forward to spending time with her four-year-old sister Carys, as well as her sister Laura, 16, and her step-sister Roseanne.

The whole family, including her father, stepmother, and stepfather Dave, take it in turns to visit her in hospital and her school friends and teachers also call in to keep her spirits up.

Her mum said the family were grateful for the amount of concern and support shown by well-wishers.

She said: "There are people who literally stop us in the street and tell us that they are saying prayers and having masses for her.

"She is still getting visits from her friends, teachers and priests.

"Everyone has been so kind, and we thought it would be nice to say thank you for the support and comfort they have given."

Emma said: "I just want to say thank you to everybody - the surgeons, the nurses, the physios, the occupational therapists and everyone else who had helped me - because without them I would''t be here. I also want to thank my family and friends for everything they have done for me."