Few people can fail to be inspired by Burley-in-Wharfedale teenager Emma Danskin's astonishing story.

Not only did she cheat death in a horrific car smash and then confound doctors with her remarkable recovery, but now the iron-willed 18-year-old plans to help others by becoming a counsellor for brain injury victims.

In November 2003, Emma almost died in the crash on the Otley to Harrogate Road. The pile-up left her paralysed down her left side after she suffered a massive stroke caused by a blood clot on her brain.

The schoolgirl was rushed to hospital and put into a drug-induced coma to keep her immobile to aid recovery.

Doctors told her parents Helen and Adrian that their daughter may never walk or talk again.

But few had bargained for Emma's grit and determination as, day by day, she recuperated from the critical injuries which nearly robbed her of life.

Since the day her life changed forever she has endured six months of hospital treatment in Leeds followed by ten months of intensive therapy at the Daniel Yorath Rehabilitation Centre in Garforth.

Originally it was hoped that she would be back at the family home in Prospect Road by Christmas. She did come home for ten days but then returned to the centre until earlier this month.

Now Emma is finally home for good.

A special two-storey extension has been built on to the family's semi, complete with a special exercise bike to help aid her recovery and strengthen her muscles.

She can now walk without a stick but sometimes takes it with her when she makes one of her trips out with her regular carers Sharon and Louise.

Each day is a regime of exercises and physiotherapy, a routine designed to restore as much normality as possible.

Along with everything else, she has had to deal with another blow. Her ambitions to be a graphic designer have been shattered because her eyesight has been permanently damaged and she has difficulty distinguishing some colours.

Instead she is proposing to follow a new career path.

"I would like to be a counsellor for people with brain injuries but not right now," said Emma, who had just returned from one of her shopping trips. "I thought I could set up my own business specifically for people with head injuries.

"I'm hoping to go to college to do an art and IT course because I did both for my AS levels. At the moment I go to Green Meadows school for the disabled in Guiseley and have lessons for a few hours a week. It's got me out of the house and back into the community.

"I think I'd eventually like to do a taster course in counselling to see if it's something I wanted to do or could do. But there might not be any colleges which will accept me yet."

The accident, along with endless months of pain and boredom in hospital, failed to break her spirit. If anything they brought out the tough fighter in her.

She said: "I think of myself as a very determined person. I know that I wouldn't be home now if I weren't. I don't let anything stop me. If I want something I'll get it - especially when they said I wouldn't walk or talk again. As soon as I got the chance I was on my feet and walking again.

"I surprised the medical staff. They never thought I'd be able to do it but I did both."

The next peak on Emma's horizon is to walk out of her house, up the hill to the station where she plans to take the train to Leeds to enjoy coffee with her friends once again.