Injured Scottish judo star Stephanie Inglis speaks to family

Scottish judo star Stephanie Inglis '“ who was badly injured in a motorbike accident in Vietnam - has spoken to her family.

Judo's Stephanie Inglis. Picture: John Devlin

Commonwealth Games medallist Stephanie Inglis, 27, was flown into Edinburgh Airport by private air ambulance on Monday.

In an emotional Facebook post, her family also said that Ms Inglis is now breathing without assistance.

They revealed she said “hi” from her hospital bed.

Stephanie Inglis with her silver medal at Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Picture: Greg Macvean

Earlier this week, the sport star’s parents Robert and Alison Inglis held a press conference near to Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital. to update well-wishers, including donors who raised more than £300,000 for her medical bills, on her condition.

In the latest Facebook update posted today, her family said: “The last 48 hours have been chaotic, making sure Stephanie arrived safe on Monday, getting her settled in to hospital...

“Stephanie has been exhausted since the flight and all the changes and tests she has had and we wanted to make sure her parents had enough time to be comfortable with her new environment, before going to visit her.

Stephanie Inglis with her silver medal at Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Picture: Greg Macvean

“The first thing we learned was that Stephanie is now breathing without any assistance, however she still has the Tracheotomy in place and although she now has a speaking attachment in place this is causing her significant distress, and we will be relieved when this can be removed.”

“Stephanie has now been cleared off all her infections and the hospital believes that she has fought and come through all of these, they are really happy with Stephanie and as soon as they can make her more comfortable they will.

“We met Robert and Alison in the visitors lounge.

“When we got to the room Stephanie was asleep, Alison gently awakened her and said Steph look who’s here to see you, Steph partially opened her eye looked and when she saw me smiled and for the first time said “Hi”.

“Her body has been through so much the slightest thing exhausts her, but for just that magical moment when she smiled and said Hi, she looked exactly like the girl who last burst into my house to tell me about all the wonderful adventures she was planning.”

Ms Inglis suffered head injuries when her skirt caught in the wheel of a motorcycle taxi and pulled her off the bike on her way to work teaching English in Ha Long on May 12.

Doctors in Vietnam initially gave her a 1 per cent chance of survival but she emerged from a medically-induced coma last week.