‘Angel's doing everything they said she wouldn’t’: Kidnapped woman left brain-damaged after falling out van stands again
9 May 2023, 08:59 | Updated: 9 May 2023, 09:05
A woman was left paralysed and brain-damaged after she fell out of a van she was kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend in – but now she’s astounded doctors by learning how to stand again.
Angel Lynn, 22, from Loughborough couldn’t eat, walk or talk after falling headfirst out of a van moving at 60mph in September 2020.
Her family were told she wouldn’t survive, and she was given her last rites three times at Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.
However, the 22-year-old has now astonished medical professionals, as nearly three years on from the incident, she has managed to stand again, and her mother Nikki is feeling optimistic about what she might achieve in the years to come.
Nikki, 48, said: "When Angel went into the rehab unit I couldn’t see any future with her getting better.
“But she has improved so much it’s unbelievable. Angel is definitely in there.
“I will write a question on her iPad and she will write her answer. I asked her what car she wanted and she wrote ‘grey Audi’.
"Angel is doing everything they said she wouldn’t."
Angel has progressed so much recently that she will soon be able to move from her rehabilitation unit back into her family home, which is having building work finalised to support her.
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The college student was kidnapped by her ex-partner Chay Bowskill in September 2020, who picked her up and forced her into a van.
Harrowing footage caught on CCTV showed the moment she was captured by Bowskill, who became increasingly hostile towards the end of their relationship, which is when Angel tried to leave him.
Bowskill, kidnapped her with the help of accomplice Rocco Sansome.
In January 2022, Bowskill was sentenced at Leicester Crown Court to seven and a half years in prison for kidnap, coercive and controlling behaviour, and perverting the court of justice.
This sentence was later increased to 12 years after senior judges at the Court of Appeal decided his first term was not long enough, handing him an extra four and a half years.
But he was cleared of causing grievous bodily harm, as it remained unclear how Angel fell out of the van.
Angel's mother hopes that one day she'll be able to hear from her daughter directly exactly what happened.
Nikki said: “I do think she was pushed because of the injuries she suffered, the force with which she hit the ground.
“I know it won't change things but I'm hoping one day she will speak and tell me what happened."
Bowskill’s accomplice, Sansome, who drove the van holding Angel was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Before the incident, the 22-year-old victim was a college student and part-time cleaner. She met Bowskill through a mutual friend about a year before the incident.
Angel’s mother said Bowskill confessed in court that the last thing he said to his ex-girlfriend was: “I f*****g hate you, b****.”
A new documentary, The Kidnap of Angel Lynn, is scheduled to air tonight on Channel 4 at 9pm.
