Who is Angel Lynn and what happened to her?
ANGEL Lynn had her life changed irrevocably in 2020 after an argument with her ex-boyfriend.
Angel tried to walk away, but her ex-boyfriend kidnapped her. She suffered catastrophic injuries soon after her kidnapping.
Who is Angel Lynn?
Angel Lynn is a young woman from the Midlands. At the time of her kidnapping, she was 19 years old.
Her family consists of her parents, Nikki and Paddy, and five siblings.
Angel is the fourth child of Nikki and Paddy.
She was described as an adventurous and outgoing teenager, but that all changed after meeting Chay Bowskill.
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She was a dedicated student with the ambition of one day becoming a forensic scientist.
What happened to Angel Lynn?
Angel's mum thinks Angel and Chay first got together in late 2019 when they were both 18.
Nikki told The Guardian that by mid 2020 she started to notice small changes in Angel's behaviour the longer she stayed with Chay.
She said: “I just never added them all up. Angel wasn’t presenting herself like she used to: before, she’d only go out with her hair done, makeup on, dressed up.
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"Now she was wearing baggy tracksuits, and not doing anything with her hair or face. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it was a change.”
She also highlighted that Angel had started spending less time with her friends which was unlike her as she was very sociable.
On the afternoon of 17 September 2020, Angel was found seriously injured, lying on the side of the A6.
Harrowing CCTV footage showed in Chay's trial showed Angel exiting a van and walking away from Chay.
Horrified jurors watched Chay run up to Angel from behind, grab her from behind and carry her back to the van before it drove away.
Moments later a concerned passerby called paramedics after spotting Angel on the side of the road.
She fell from the van travelling at 60mph, sustaining a fractured skull and suffering a traumatic brain injury as a result.
She underwent many hours of surgery at the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham.
The quick actions of the paramedics and hospital staff saved Angel's life.
However, she was left unable to walk, talk, eat or care for herself, now requiring around-the-clock care.
How is Angel Lynn now?
Angel's parents were interviewed on BBC Breakfast ahead of the release of the Channel 4 documentary telling her story.
Her mum said that she has been improving in ways that they had initially thought impossible.
Nikki said: "She's doing really well. She can write, she is taking small sips of drink and they [her physiotherapists] are standing her up now.
"They are really good. She gets a bit moody sometimes when she is being bent around but it's doing her the world of good. She's loosening up."
Angel is now able to communicate with the assistance of an iPad to write a few short sentences.
She is also learning to walk again, after recently standing again with the assistance of physiotherapists.
Nikki said “Now she can write on her tablet. Use the remote control to watch TV. Wipe her own mouth. She can’t talk yet, maybe one day, but she can still express her sense of humour.”
The assistance of speech language therapists and physiotherapists has helped Angel progress so much, she has even started swimming lessons.
What have Angel Lynn's parents said?
In April Nikki told the Guardian: "I’ve never seen her stand up on her own like we are today. I’m excited about the potential. It also means I can focus properly on telling Angel’s story.”
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Her mother has been very vocal in advocating for education on domestic abuse, she told the Guardian: “As heartbreaking and hard as it is to talk about what happened, we need to make sure that nobody else has to go through what we all have.
"People of any gender or age can find themselves in coercive and controlling relationships. Hopefully, this will help others look out for the signs.”