A brave woman has taken her first steps after almost being paralysed in a horror 40ft fall.
Sophie Bracken, 23, opened a window of her friend's fourth-floor flat in Manchester after feeling ill at the end of a night out on Sunday, September 4, reports Manchester Evening News.
But after going 'a bit too close to the edge' she lost her balance and fell over, sending her plummeting onto the pavement 40ft below.
Her screams for help were eventually heard by a taxi passenger who asked the driver to pull over.
She was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary before having several weeks of treatment at Salford Royal, with doctors initially fearing she'd be permanently paralysed from the severity of her injuries.
But only 12 weeks on from her devastating fall, Sophie has taken her first steps back at home in Bradford, West Yorkshire - marking a huge moment in her journey to recovery.
Commenting on her feelings looking back on the accident, Sophie told Manchester Evening News: "Due to the trauma and stress, I think my mind has blocked out a lot of the pain and feelings I had at the time.
"I remember hitting the ground and feeling my back break. I remember worrying more about my family and how I was going to get in touch with my mum, rather than my injuries.
"The moment mum got to me was a sense of comfort. I had a feeling that everything will be OK, even though everything wasn't OK."
She has spoken out about her fall to raise awareness of the Day One Trauma Support, a charity which supported her and her mum Rachel Clapham, 60, as she accompanied her throughout her time in hospital.
Rachel even took to sleeping on hard benches, plastic chairs and windowsills in a desperate bid to stay near her in the hospital, as she couldn't afford the hotel stay in Manchester and didn't want to keep making the daily six-hour return journey on public transport.
But after being moved on by hospital security in the early hours one morning, a nurse told Rachel about Day One Trauma Support.
The charity provided a small grant for her a fter she got in contact, allowing her to spend several nights in a hotel close to the hospital.
Since Sophie left the hospital, they have also provided emotional support to the family and put them in touch with other charities and organisations that provide help.
Mum Rachel, of Idle, Bradford, said: "Sophie may be 23, but all I wanted was to give my baby girl a hug and tell her everything will be OK. The emergency funding came at the right time.
"It meant I could stay in Manchester. I was able to give Sophie so much more support, knowing I only had a six-minute bus ride back to the hotel. If Day One hadn't have been there, it would have been a different story. It would have been harder for Sophie, but 10 times harder for me."
Both mum and daughter are now backing Day One's Big Give Christmas Challenge, which started this week and ends at 12pm on Tuesday, December 6.
The money will help the charity cope with an increase in demand, with the cost-of-living crisis combining with the financial shocks of a major trauma for affected families.
