A battling mum spoke today of her dream of bringing a smile back to her brain-damaged daughter's face.

Pearl Browne hopes pioneering treatment in Germany will enable her only daughter Debbie to reach out and touch her two young sons for the first time since a mystery insulin overdose left her virtually paralysed.

She has been unable to talk and in need of round-the-clock nursing care for almost three years.

Mum Pearl and her husband Derek, 49, of Baildon, are convinced their daughter did not administer the overdose herself and hope her ability to communicate will be restored to such an extent that she can one day tell them how the tragedy happened.

Despite being told that former horse riding instructor Debbie Browne, 29 - who was rushed to hospital after being discovered unconscious at her home in Wakefield Road, Bradford, in July 1999 - is likely to remain in a persistent vegetative state, the couple are convinced progress can be made.

They have now launched a bid to raise the £30,000 needed to fund a rehabilitation programme at the specialist neurological Schmieder clinic in Germany.

Mrs Browne, 55, said: "We found out about the work they do through a TV programme and saw what progress they'd made with a girl in a similar position.

"Before it happened Debbie was just so full of life. She idolised her two sons Jamie and Ethan, who are now aged six and five, and was planning to marry her boyfriend.

"It's totally heartbreaking to see how she is now with such a poor quality of life and unable to do anything for herself.''

"But I'm sure she knows what's happening and that's why we're determined to get her this treatment.

"To see her smile again would mean everything to me and if she could reach out and touch her boys again that would mean more than winning the Lottery.

"We don't know what will be possible till we get her there, which will hopefully be in the Autumn. But we're hoping the treatment will mean in her being able to communicate with us - either by speaking or in some other way - and give her a bit more mobility.

"There won't be a full recovery but we just hope she can have a better quality of life, get to the stage where she can come back and live with us and tell us what happened.''

Professor Paul Schoenle, director of the Kliniken Schmieder in Allensbach, Germany, said their philosophy was that even severely brain damaged patients had the potential to recover to some extent.

He said detailed assessments would be carried out to determine how much Debbie understood.

The programme could include stimulating her senses and getting her to walk with the help of therapists, which it was hoped would help prompt further brain activity, and giving her an opportunity to communicate through a computer.

Professor Schoenle said re-establishing some form of communication with Debbie could be a realistic goal, although that would be finalised after discussions with her parents, adding that emphasis was also put on keeping the body in ''good shape''.

The Brownes have launched an appeal - under the account name Schmieder Clinic Fundraising Club at Lloyds TSB, Shipley - are staging regular car boot sales and have persuaded several Shipley shops to take collection boxes in a bid to fund the former Salt Grammar School student's treatment.

But the main fundraising activities are being spearheaded by Claire Kenny, owner of Shipley's Red Headz Hair Salon, where Pearl is a regular customer.

Miss Kenny vowed to help after hearing about Debbie's plight and is now planning a sponsored blindfolded haircut on a volunteer while celebrity customer Danny Cunningham - the Baildon-based actor who has appeared in Coronation Street - has promised to back the appeal.

* Anyone wanting to sponsor the fundraisers or make a donation should contact Red Headz on (01274) 596076 or the Brownes on (01274) 591978.