The youngest victim of the Glasgow city centre bin lorry crash is to return to the basketball court to play for Scotland.
Alix Stewart was badly injured in the accident in Queen Street on December 23, but after undergoing rehabilitation is to play for her team on Saturday.
The 15-year-old was dragged along by the out of control vehicle, which killed six people on December 23 last year.
Left with internal organ damage, broken bones, her ear torn off and damage to her back, Alix says playing her favourite sport again was her motivation for becoming well.
She has defied the odds to be back with the Scotland under-15 squad for her first game this weekend.
Her father Colin said: "Alix has been amazing - not just physically but mentally too.
"She continually pushed and pushed her doctors. She was nagging the physiotherapist for permission to start running just weeks after the crash.
"He gave it to her - and then minutes after we had left the hospital he called to say, 'wait a minute, it's far too soon'.
"Alix is just not the type of girl to take no for an answer - and she's hard to say no to."
Alix had been shopping with her mother, Jacqueline, and older sister Emily, 16, when the lorry went onto the pavement, knocking over Alix's two friends and dragging Alix with it.
Alix and seven other people were taken to hospital following the smash.
She had a seven-hour operation involving four different specialist surgeons to deal with severe liver and kidney damage, fractured collar, broken rib and thigh bones, missing skin on her back and a major ear injury.
The teenager, who has an older brother Kyle, 18, and big sister Emily, 16, spent 24 hours in intensive care before being moved to the high-dependency ward of the Royal Infirmary.
Two weeks later she was home from hospital and facing a gruelling six-month regime of physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. She underwent a total of seven operations.
Alix said: "I joined the gym and was going most nights. I was on my spin bike every single night and working with my physiotherapist.
"My biggest motivation for getting back on my feet was basketball. I love playing and I was determined that I was going to join my team again.
"And I feel totally fine now."
The girls from Lady Rocks, Alix's Cumbernauld-based squad, have given her huge amounts of support and she's also had encouragement from Kieron Achara of Glasgow Rocks.
Two weeks ago, the pupil at Gryffe High School in Houston, Renfrewshire, was back in hospital to have "road tattoos" removed from her hands and she will need the same operation on her back.
Jacqueline said: "Alix's progress has been completely amazing but she still has a little bit left to go."
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