Teenager Gemma Quinn was told she would never walk again after being paralysed from the neck down following a car accident. Yesterday she revealed how she had proved the doctors wrong.

Gemma, 19, recently took her first steps since she was left with a severed spine by the accident 11 years ago.

She had been told she would spend the rest of her life on a ventilator and in a wheelchair. But yesterday, after months of therapy, Gemma, from Woolton, Merseyside, said: "It feels amazing. I've been so determined to walk and been working so hard at it."

Gemma was awarded a Child of Courage award in 1996, and went on to win the friendship of Diana, Princess of Wales and the footballer Jamie Redknapp.

She made headlines when she wrote a letter of support to the Superman actor Christopher Reeve who suffered a similar injury to hers after a riding accident.

Her recovery began after she started a form of body and mind therapy called Mind Instructor in February this year.

She said: "I moved down to London for my therapy. I have been doing exercises eight hours a day. It's so tiring but it feels great for my body to be physically tired for the first time in so long."

Gemma has been working with instructor Hratch Ogali. The therapist, who is not a doctor, described her as "an amazing woman".

His work involves teaching physical and mental techniques to help heal the body.

Gemma's father Mike recently celebrated his 44th birthday and as a present she sent him a video of her cycling, kicking a ball, and taking her first steps for more than a decade.

She said: "I decided to make the tape to show him my progress and on the very first day I took the steps. He was so excited for me."

The accident in which Gemma was injured happened in north Wales in June 1992. She was travelling in a car with her father and her sister Gillian.

Gillian suffered a broken back but has since recovered. Gemma was told she would not be able to move anything below her shoulders.

Gemma said: "I've still got a long way to go, but this progress has made me even more determined. I'm going to keep doing my therapy and hopefully inspire other people as well."