Angel Lynn: Parents of paralysed kidnap victim hope to bring home daughter 'for good'
ITV News Central Political Correspondent Alison Mackenzie reports on Angel Lynn's family issuing a DIY-SOS style appeal to builders for help to transform her home in Loughborough
The family of a woman from Leicestershire, who suffered life changing injuries after being kidnapped, have told ITV they hope they can bring their daughter "home for good".
Angel Lynn, who's 21-year-old, was left paralysed and unable to eat, walk or talk by herself following the ordeal at the hands of her then-boyfriend, Chay Bowskill, two years ago.
Bowskill, 20, from Syston in Leicestershire, was jailed after being convicted of kidnap, coercive and controlling behaviour and perverting the course of justice.
Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain today, Angel's mother Nikki said: "I personally think he needed longer. It's not long enough, not for what Angel has got to go through now still two years nearly.
"She is ok. She had just had a communication [aid] fitted to her wheelchair, so she can touch and it talks for her."
Nikki adds: "She does make sounds, so I'm hoping that means her voice will come back.
"She is moving her right side really well and is just starting to move her left side, which they said she wouldn't.
"But she does slightly make movements. so she's really, really strong."
A crowdfunding page set up to help the family with their extension plans has already raised £150,000.
They hope any leftover money will help pay for specialist medical equipment to support Angel's long-term rehabilitation.
Angel's dad Paddy said: "They are just amazing, we can't thank them enough.
"Everybody that's donated on the GoFundMe, we've got local builders that are going to do the work for free and everyone has just been brilliant."
Nikki said: "She does know, we do tell her and we read some of the messages out and that to her. Yesterday she said on the machine that she was scared, so it's heartbreaking.
"If you give her a cuddle, you can feel her chest going, so I don't know if she's crying or whether she's trying to express herself.
"It's so nice to be able to take her out, so we do try and get her out as much as possible and she does enjoy it."
It comes as last week Angel's mum said her daughter has recovered better than expected, and has been able to lift her right arm, feed animals at the zoo, and help her mum with the washing.
Angel is being treated at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where she'll soon have communication equipment fitted to her wheelchair at the end of August.
Plans for their house in Loughborough include a downstairs wet room, a medication and laundry room, and a hoist to be able to transport Angel through to the living room and bedroom.
It is hoped this will better enable her to communicate with loved ones, by tapping sentences with her right hand.
She is still being fed through a tube in her stomach, but is allowed to lick one ice lolly a week to try and improve her swallowing.
When was Angel Lynn kidnapped?
Angel was 19 when she was bundled into the back of a van she later fell out of onto the A6 Loughborough Road near Mountsorrel, Leicestershire, on 17 September 2020.
Angel's "controlling" boyfriend, Chay Bowskill, and his friend, Rocco Sansome, both 20, were convicted by a jury of kidnapping her.
Bowskill, from Syston, was cleared of "intentionally causing her grievous bodily harm", after it became unclear precisely how she left the vehicle.
He was also convicted of controlling and coercive behaviour towards Angel during their year-long relationship and perverting the course of justice, by seeking to persuade his mother to withdraw her police statement.
CCTV footage showed Bowskill running after her, grabbing her in a bear hug and carrying her back to the transit van that was then driven away by Sansome - shortly before she ended up injured on the A6 near Mountsorrel at 10.45am.
How was Angel Lynn kidnapped?
The kidnap happened after Angel, who was originally lawfully driving the van, had collected Bowskill and Sansome.
At some stage she was arguing with Bowskill and got out and walked off along the road, near Hilltop Garage, in Rothley.
Moments before she left the vehicle, Bowskill accepted telling her he "hated" her and never wanted to see her again.
He told the court they were driving her home to Loughborough when she fell onto the road, via the van's rear sliding side door, as he sat in the front passenger seat.
During the trial, he told the jury she jumped and caused her own injuries, which left him hysterical and distressed.