‘It feels like a miracle’: A 23-year-old woman who suffered brain damage and a broken spine in a Bulgarian skiing accident was given a five per cent chance of survival – but she has defied the odds and hopes to hit the slopes again

A young British woman who was given just a five per cent chance of survival after a horrific skiing accident has stunned doctors by making a ‘miraculous’ recovery – and has vowed to return to the slopes as soon as she is physically able.

Olivia Corbiere, 23, suffered a brain haemorrhage, lung damage, a broken pelvis and nose, and three broken vertebrae when she fell 4.5 meters into a ravine in Bansko, Bulgaria, in March.

Doctors who first cared for the kitchen designer told her mother Linzi, 46, that she had a limited chance of survival – and that if she did, she might never speak again.

Olivia was put into a medically induced coma – often done to limit brain damage – but was shortly able to say the words “I love you” to her boyfriend Ben Smith, 24, who flew to her bedside.

Olivia was later flown back to Britain for specialist treatment and defied the odds, but recovered enough to return home after six weeks.

She still has some hearing loss and nerve damage on the right side of her face, affecting the movement of her eyelids, along with a wound on the back of her head.

But Linzi said: ‘It definitely feels like a miracle.

‘Don’t get me wrong, the Bulgarian neurosurgeon saved Olivia’s life, but the care in England is second to none. They checked on her constantly.

“We were told she had a five percent chance of living and might not talk, but she did all that, she proved them wrong, she’s getting stronger every day.

‘Now she can laugh and joke about herself and stuff like that – that’s really good. We are absolutely over the moon.”

Olivia thanked her sister Phoebe Corbiere, 19, and five close friends who were with her when she had the accident, claiming their quick and selfless actions saved her life.

Speaking from her home in Aston, near Rotherham, South Yorks, Olivia said: “The actions of my sister and my friends that day are the reason I am here.

‘Three of them jumped into the ravine and helped get me out, and then the others called the emergency services.

‘They didn’t think for a second not to jump in, and they could have hurt themselves. They are incredible. They’re fantastic, they’re great.

“When I was in the hospital, I thanked them for what they did, because they saved my life.”

Olivia had been on the five-day spring ski trip with her sister and friends Laura Howe, 23, Charlotte Howe, 20, Georgia Cooke, 23, Ellise Cowley, 23, and Anastasia Griffith 23.

And on March 17, she headed to the top of the mountain range in western Bulgaria early to maximize her time on the slopes.

But after lunch, while walking along a ski trail, she tumbled into a ravine while going over “slushy” snow.

Olivia said: ‘We met around 10am and had a conversation about where we were going to eat. That was one of the last things I remember before my accident.

‘My right ski crossed my left ski, causing me to lose control. Then I went into the ravine.

“Because there was such a big drop, and because the weather was warmer and it had melted, I couldn’t get out like I normally would.”

Olivia’s friends called for an ambulance and she was rushed to a hospital where shocked medics said they had ‘never’ seen a head wound as serious as hers.

She later underwent a four-hour emergency operation where specialists removed part of her skull to reduce a life-threatening bleed in her brain.

Olivia also appeared to have suffered three broken vertebrae, a broken pelvis, a broken eye socket and a broken nose in the fall.

Linzi immediately flew to Bulgaria to be at her daughter’s bedside before she was put into an induced coma.

When she was returned to Britain on April 1, doctors warned Linzi to prepare for a long recovery that could take several months or possibly years.

But Olivia, who has no memory of the five-week period after her accident, started to get better when she found out what happened to her.

She said: ‘When I moved from the intensive care unit to the neuro unit, about three or four days afterwards, my memory started to come back.

“For some reason I thought I had been in a car accident – ​​or there were several stories that made sense to me and I can’t remember why I was in the hospital.”

Olivia finally returned home four weeks ago and has since enjoyed meals with her relieved family.

But she was stunned to hear how many people from around the world had expressed their condolences after learning of her accident.

She added: “My mum watched it for a while and it was just fantastic.

‘There are just so many good people in the world. I couldn’t be more grateful.”

Olivia also said she hoped to get back on the ski slopes as soon as possible, despite her traumatic injuries.

She said: ‘It was just an accident, it had nothing to do with how I was skiing.

‘I’ve been skiing for years. I absolutely love it, and I shouldn’t let something that was a complete accident deter me from something I love doing.

“So when I’m all better and well, I’d like to try it again.”

Olivia’s family has one crowdfunding to help cover the costs of her recovery.