Stephanie Inglis: Parents say donations 'saved' judo star

The parents of Stephanie Inglis have thanked those who have donated to an appeal which they say helped save the judo star's life.

The 27-year-old Commonwealth Games silver medallist was badly injured in a motorbike taxi accident in Vietnam.

More than £304,000 has been raised so far to help cover the costs of hospital treatment in Vietnam and Thailand and fly her home to Scotland.

Her parents Alison and Robert Inglis said she was in a "stable" condition.

At a media conference near Edinburgh's Western General, they told of their relief at having Stephanie back in Scotland.

Her father, who is involved in judo in the Highlands and was a Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Queen's Baton bearer along with Stephanie, said: "To get her home, we never thought we would get her home, it's a miracle, we are so happy to be home."

Her mother said: "When the money started coming in we were blown away. Every donation, every post shared, everyone of you has saved her life.

"She would not be here if it was not for you.

"They would not do anything in the hospital without you signing for it. Every day we have lived in fear, we couldn't eat, we couldn't sleep, we couldn't talk."

The athlete was flown from Thailand to Edinburgh

She added: "We knew we had to get her back because the fear was if we ran out of money then the treatment would stop.

"She's stable. They're running tests on her and keeping her in quarantine because of where she's flown in from.

"It is too early to say what they are expecting but it's looking good and we are confident."

Stephanie's father said he could see his daughter is in a lot of pain but she is on the road to recovery.

He said: "She can't speak but she acknowledges us with a little nod of the head and she holds our hands and doesn't want to let go - it's marvellous.

"She is a judo player like myself and I've told her she will have to fight again like she has done all her life.

"She moved her two fingers and her leg and her ankle. To us it is marvellous because it means we know her brain is there and we feel it is encouraging."

He added that he found things very difficult when they were in Vietnam.

He said: "The doctors were arguing, one said if you move her she will die and the other was saying if you don't move her she will die.

"I have never been so emotional, it took a long time before the tears stopped."

Stephanie and her father were Queen's Baton bearers for Glasgow's 2014 Commonwealth Games

Doctors in Vietnam had given her a 1% chance of surviving her injuries.

After arriving at Edinburgh Airport in an air ambulance on Monday, Stephanie was taken to Edinburgh's Western General Hospital where she was been receiving care in a specialist unit.

She was flown from Thailand where she was treated in a Bangkok hospital for a serious head injury and also infections, including pneumonia.

Stephanie, who grew up in the Highlands but has been living in Dunfermline, had been transferred to Bangkok from a hospital in Vietnam where the accident happened on 10 May.

Her parents, who live in Daviot, near Inverness, flew to south-east Asia to be with their daughter.

Stephanie, who won her Commonwealth Games medal at Glasgow 2014, had been in Vietnam for about four months, teaching underprivileged children, when she suffered serious head injuries in the motorcycle accident.

Her skirt is believed to have become unravelled and caught in the wheel.

Friends and family set up a crowdfunding campaign to pay for her medical costs after it emerged her travel insurance was not valid because she had been in the country more than 31 days.

Stephanie Inglis and fellow judo athlete Connie Ramsay at Glasgow 2014