Brave Cerys Edwards stands up for the first time

Jun 15 2009 by Nick McCarthy, Birmingham Mail

“It’s amazing when you consider how far she has come. We were told at the very start to turn the machines off, and then we were told that she would never be able to breathe on her own or to walk.

“But she has proved that she can breathe for herself. The doctors hope that she can be weaned off, but we have a good starting point.

“It would make such a massive difference if she can come of the ventilator for good.

“Our lives can get back to some kind of normality. She will obviously still need lots of nurses around her, but the ventilator is such a big thing.

“We have always fought for her and we are over the moon with her progress. There is still an awful long way to go, but she has shown real progress.”

Last April, Boparan, of Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield, was jailed for 21 months after being convicted of dangerous driving.

He was 19 at the time and travelling at more than 70mph on the wrong side of the 30mph Streetly Lane in Sutton Coldfield when his powerful Range Rover Sport ploughed head-on into the Edwards’ car in November 2006.

Boparan was released early in October after serving just six months.

The Mail-backed Cerys Edwards campaign calling for tougher sentences on dangerous drivers like Boparan has now clocked up more than 11,000 signatures.

Last month Boparan said the launch of a trust fund for Cerys and other victims of road accidents was imminent.

He also said he would raise awareness and talk to teenagers about driving safely.

Gareth has demanded “action not words” from the millionaire’s son. The family has now bought a house in Sutton Coldfield that will be adapted for Cerys’s needs.

Gareth said work to overhaul the house and to accommodate the team of specialist nurses, could be completed by September.