THINGS are looking “promising” for the 17-year-old girl hit by a lorry while she was riding her motorbike after more than a month of her life “hanging in the balance.”

That’s according to the father of Ellie-May Weaver, the Binfield girl who was put into an induced coma following the crash in Reading on December 14.

Ellie-May was taken into intensive care at Oxford’s John Radcliffe hospital and has since spent dozens of hours on the operating table undergoing multiple operations.

Back at the end of December, her father, Paul, said different specialists updated him daily on Ellie-May’s “very complex” problems, which included a suspected blood clot on her lungs, kidney failure, a brain injury causing memory problems and bone fractures.

READ MORE: 'horrendous' injuries leave crash victim's family unsure of what future holds

Since then, Ellie-May has had another operation on her right arm which stopped working after the crash.

The operation saw surgeons use nerves from from her left calf muscle, right forearm and her neck to try and recover the nerves from her arm to her spinal cord that were deemed salvageable.

It is hoped that this will allow Ellie-May to undertake some basic hand movements, but her family will not know if the operation was a success for another six months.

 

Ellie-May Weaver with her family. Images via family.

Ellie-May Weaver with her family. Images via family.

 

Ellie-May will undergo another surgery today (January 28) to fit a new cage on her leg which will facilitate bone growth after doctors said she was missing 15cm of bone following the incident.

It is expected to be another marathon day on the operating table for Ellie-May, who has already undergone procedures lasting almost 11 hours.

But Ellie-May’s family are hoping this will be the final medical hurdle for the 17-year-old, who

has been moved to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre from the JR.

Her father Paul said: “It's all looking promising.

READ MORE: One person injured after motorbike and lorry crash in Reading

“So she's out of the John Radcliffe now, before she was in the intensive care unit, which was where the life support machines were, and that was in a basement.

“There was no windows and then we we got up onto a ward, where I've been allowed to stay there 24 hours a day.

“It's been great and we’re out of there now, it's just all little steps in the right direction, it’s all positive, it’s all good.

 

Ellie-May Weaver with her family. Images via family.

Ellie-May Weaver with her family. Images via family.

 

“I know the operation is a bit of a weight on her mind, but it's it's all moving in the right direction. Everything's going forward.

“There have been times where her life's been hanging in the balance and no one's really known if after everything they've been doing if she was going to pull through.

“But we've got past that, the only trouble we have at the moment is when she has her operations and trying to get her pain control managed.

“I think that's that's the only thing now to get through and then hopefully it’s just straightforward.”

In other positive news, a blood clot on Ellie-May’s lung has vanished, meaning doctors can now give her blood thinners to aid with her brain injury.

 

Ellie-May Weaver with her family. Images via family.

Ellie-May Weaver with her family. Images via family.

 

Following the incident, the 17-year-old could only remember her mother and father and could not recognise her siblings or pets.

But her memory is getting better, Paul said.

READ MORE: M4 closed after lorry hits pedestrian

“As the days have gone on, Ellie-May has got better and better.

“She remembers a lot more people. When I first gave her a phone, she tried to message people but she couldn't spell.

“She's still making mistakes, but she's getting better with that.

“The left side of the brain was damaged but over time the brain will rewire itself.

 

Ellie-May Weaver with her family. Images via family.

Ellie-May Weaver with her family. Images via family.

 

“I think she's just been very lucky, she's not been affected too much.”

The next step for Ellie-May is a place at a rehabilitation centre where medical professionals will help the recovery of her leg, brain and arm injuries.

However, her family is set to move into council accommodation after doctors said Ellie-May would need a bigger living space to allow her to move around in a wheelchair, which she is expected to need for at least a year.

Despite this, Paul is staying optimistic about his daughter’s prospects following a scary end to 2021.

He said: “It's still early days.

“She's got that big op tomorrow [today] and then I feel like we can start to focus on recovery.

“Hopefully after tomorrow, it's just forward.”