HORROR crash survivor Katrina Burgess told today how she was lucky to be alive – and is longing to be a normal teenager again.

Former All Saints School pupil Katrina, 17, has made a remarkable recovery since suffering horrific injuries in a motorway crash which killed a three-year-old girl.

But she still bears the scars, both physically and emotionally, and continues to have problems walking and moving her neck.

“I just want to get on with my life and be normal again,” said Katrina, who is back living with her mum Sarah-Jayne Murphy on Portland.

She added: “Mum calls me a miracle girl and I know that I’m lucky to be alive.”

She spent five weeks at Taunton’s Musgrove Park Hospital, most of those in intensive care, where she underwent lengthy operations to treat her broken neck, back, pelvis, hip and leg. Several of her ribs were also shattered.

One operation, on her spine, was make or break for her family who feared she might never walk again.

But five months on Katrina is determined to get on with her life and do all the things teenagers do.

After recuperating at her dad Michael Burgess’s home near Yeovil she returned to Portland where she has been spending time with family members, and friends Elvie Curtis and Simeon Hovard.

She has talked of taking driving lessons and has agreed to be birth partner for her sister Lilly who is expecting in August.

But because of her injuries Katrina can no longer apply to be a police officer. She says she might find work as a hairdresser, but it could be some time before that happens.

Sarah-Jayne said despite her daughter’s optimistic outlook, she has lost weight and may need counselling for post-traumatic stress.

Katrina grew up on Portland and in Weymouth but was living in Somerset with her then boyfriend Tyrone Griffiths before the crash.

She said: “I don’t remember a lot about the crash. I know that I had Bailey, the girl who died, on my knee. I don’t remember going down the ditch but I remember being down there and hearing the driver, Wally, asking if everyone was all right.

“I don’t blame anyone for the crash, it was just an accident.”

Sarah-Jayne, 43, said: “She’s a fighter. I can’t believe the strength she’s had. She knows she has to take it easy. She has to walk before she can run.”

KATRINA Burgess was among eight people travelling in an overloaded Renault Scenic which crashed on the M5 in January.

Wally Griffiths from Portland was driving and his partner Emma Byatt was the front seat passenger. They were bringing friends and family members to Portland for a party.

Also in the car were Wally’s son Tyrone Griffiths, and Emma’s friend Janine Norton. Janine’s three children, aged nine, five and three, were also on board. The youngest, Bailey Saunders, died as a result of the crash. Her five-year-old sister, Taylor, was critically injured but has now been released from hospital.

Avon and Somerset Police are investigating and are due to hand over a file to the Crown Prosecution Service.