A GWENT woman who suffered internal injuries, 16 broken ribs, a broken collarbone and head wounds in an horrific car crash told the Argus: "I'm lucky to be alive".

Liz Powell, pictured, spent a week fighting for her life after being flung 25 yards through the air from her car's open sunroof.

Mrs Powell, aged 52, from Prince Edward Crescent, Ebbw Vale, was unconscious in the intensive care unit of Abergavenny's Nevill Hall Hospital. She suffered major bruising to all her internal organs, 16 broken ribs, a broken collarbone, head wounds and damage to her teeth, after her Peugeot 106 was involved in a collision with a Honda Civic at the Usk junction of the A4042 Newport to Abergavenny road near Mamhilad at 11.20am on August 21. The other driver suffered only slight injuries.

Mrs Powell, a social worker for the Monmouthshire and Torfaen Youth Offending Team, has no memory of the accident itself or its immediate aftermath. She will be off work for another six months.

She said: "The first thing I remember was waking up in hospital with tubes coming from everywhere.

"I had been driving back to my office in Mamhilad from Monmouth when the crash happened. The police told me that the force of the crash threw me 25 yards through the air from the car's sunroof. I was extremely lucky because I landed on grass.

"If I had landed on the road it would have been the end for me. "One of the doctors told me I was lucky to be alive because my ribs could easily have punctured my lung.

"When I told him I had never smoked and did yoga every day, he told me that could have had something to do with why I'm still alive today."

Mrs Powell was looking forward to flying to Nepal on the day after the accident to meet some friends and go trekking through the Himalayas, as well as looking for voluntary work as part of a break from her job.

And she is determined to make the trip eventually.

She said: "It is great to be alive despite the fact that I'm still in excruciating pain but things are getting better every day and I'm determined that I will return to the Himalayas."

Mrs Powell thanked the emergency services and staff at Nevill Hall, and also her family, friends, neighbours and colleagues for their help.