A TEENAGER who made a miraculous recovery from a horrific car crash stepped out to pay tribute to the doctors and nurses who saved her life.

"Miracle girl" Michelle Wheatley will hand over cash raised by a sponsored walk to the hospitals that treated her after the accident.

Sixth-form students at Sherburn High School were so moved by 18-year-old Michelle's recovery, they decided to launch a special charity fund on her behalf.

Joining in the school's annual sponsored 12-mile walk, 20 of her friends raised more than £400 in sponsorship.

They walked from the school to Lotherton Hall - where they met Michelle and Bradford Bulls player Jamie Langley - and back again.

Michelle told the Evening Press: "This just brought home how many people do care for me. It means so much that they have done this.

"I have had a lot of thought about what to do with the fund, but I've decided to use it to help the hospitals that saved me. I can hardly remember any of it, because I was in a coma, but I've been told those people saved my life, and this is my way of saying thank you."

Michelle, of Byram, near Selby, worked closely with the Selby Millennium Volunteer project, and project co-ordinator Jo Walker also joined in the walk.

Jo said: "It was a very rewarding thing to do. We all had such a good time, and we knew that we would be able to generate a fund for Michelle. That was the incentive that kept us all going."

The walkers are expected to raise more than £400, and the money will be donated to Pinderfields and Leeds hospitals.

Bradford Bulls star Jamie met Michelle at an awards ceremony only days before her accident, and the whole squad sent her messages of support while she was recovering in hospital.

The Evening Press reported in April how Michelle was lucky to be alive following an accident that left her car dangling above a 40ft drop on the A162 at Brotherton. Selby firefighters had to cut her out of her car wearing harnesses tied to the fire engine. Doctors told her devastated parents Malcolm and Elizabeth that there were no signs of life in her eyes, and warned them to expect the worst.

But against all odds, Michelle pulled through and made a rapid recovery, earning herself the nickname "Miracle Girl" from hospital staff. Michelle is now hoping to retake her final year at Sherburn High School, and then go on to do a criminology degree at York University, and one day become a police officer.

Updated: 10:03 Thursday, July 07, 2005