Judo Star Stephanie Inglis Vows Return To Sport After Vietnam Motorbike Accident

Judo Star Stephanie Inglis Vows Return To Sport After Vietnam Motorbike Accident
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A British judo star who was given a 1% chance of survival after a motorbike accident in Vietnam has vowed to return to the sport.

Commonwealth silver medallist Stephanie Inglis, from Inverness, has been in hospital since the crash in May but will now return to her home in the Highlands to continue her recovery and rehabilitation.

The 27-year-old arrived back in Scotland in mid-June and was treated at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital before moving to a specialist unit in Fife.

She has vowed to return to a normal way of life, which for her includes judo.

In an interview with the BBC, she said: "The goal is to obviously get back into a normal way of life and, well, judo for me was normal, I've been doing it since I was four.

"To not be able to do judo, that wouldn't be my normal life, so probably after the year I'll start looking at getting back into the sport and doing some training to get my fitness and all that back.

"But for now, because I'm going back up to Inverness, I'll help at my Dad's judo club - help coach so at least I'm in and around it and can be involved because I do miss it."

The Glasgow 2014 medallist suffered head injuries when her skirt caught in the wheel of a motorcycle taxi and pulled her off the bike in Vietnam.

She was travelling to work teaching English in Ha Long when the accident happened on May 12.

Doctors in Vietnam initially gave her a 1% chance of survival but she has since defied the odds, emerging from a medically-induced coma and returning to Scotland.

Robert Inglis, Stephanie's father, put his daughter's recovery down to her ''fighting spirit'' honed through years of judo practice.