Angel Lynn was 19 years old when she fell out of a van travelling at 60mph
By Rachel Stonehouse
Newsbeat reporter
A 22-year-old left brain-damaged by her ex-boyfriend’s botched kidnap attempt could be back home for good by next Christmas, her family says.
Angel Lynn was 19 when Chay Bowskill bundled her into a van after an argument. She fell out of the vehicle at 60mph and was badly injured.
She has needed 24-hour care since and her parents have been fundraising to revamp their home to meet her needs.
Work has now started, and they hope it could be completed next year.
At the moment Angel, who is unable to walk, talk or feed herself, lives in a specialist home but is allowed supervised four-hour visits every day.
Mum Nikki and dad Paddy want to add a downstairs bedroom, wet room and carers’ room to their house in Leicestershire.
They hope doing this will allow Angel to be cared for permanently in one place with her family nearby.
Taking shape: Work has finally begun on extending the Lynn family’s home so they can welcome Angel back full-time
Angel’s kidnapper Bowskill recently had his original seven-year jail sentence increased to 12 years.
He was caught on CCTV grabbing Angel and dragging her towards a van driven by his accomplice Rocco Sansome in September 2020.
The judge who increased Bowskill’s prison term said Bowskill had been controlling and “vile” towards Angel during their relationship.
Nikki and Paddy say their daughter’s made “quite a lot of progress” in the last two years.
“We don’t worry as much as we used to,” says Paddy.
“She’s more aware of what’s going on around her,” says Nikki.
“She’s using her iPad now [to communicate] – she’s got pictures of her family on there so she can point to the family members.”
The couple have spoken before about the support they’ve received from their local community and how it’s helped them to realise their dream.
And Jimi King – project manager on the family’s big build – agrees.
“It’s absolutely huge – all the equipment we’re using we’ve had for free, even rental companies giving us things at cost just to help us out,” he says.
“We’re saving a fortune on raw materials at the moment – it’s really quite incredible.”
Nikki looks forward to spending Christmas with Angel at home
Paddy says the family are “well excited” as the result of Project Angel – their name for their fundraising campaign – begins to take shape.
“It’s just the mess you’ve got to put up with,” he says.
And for Nikki, the dream of having her daughter back at home is a step closer to becoming a reality.
“She is the strongest person I’ve ever, ever met.
“To come through all that… we were told daily that Angel won’t wake up, she won’t make it.
“I want her to have the best life possible, obviously, and I’ll make sure I’ll do that whatever.”
