I just want to walk again, says woman paralysed in Egypt crash

A woman from north London left paralysed after a car crash in Egypt has said it is her dream to be able to walk again one day.

Chenai Johnson, 23, had been living and working in the coastal city of Hurghada for 18 months and was having the "best time".

On a day off on 17 January, together with her friend from work, she took an Uber to go to nearby El Gouna for breakfast. But the short journey ended in a serious collision.

Johnson's spine was broken and her spinal cord severed. Despite spinal fusion surgery, she is paralysed below her waist with no movement or feeling in that area.

She has been told by doctors she will never be able to walk again - but she still hopes she will be able to someday.

"It was just a normal day," said Johnson, recalling the day of the crash.

"We were about 20 minutes away from our destination and I said to my friend I was going to take a nap.

"I woke up, feeling the car was going at a fast speed. I remember seeing big stones, big rocks right in front of us. I remember screaming.

"The last thing I remember is the driver turning the wheel all the way to the left."

Johnson, who was working at a hotel, said that in Egypt she had led an active life, working in the sunshine and having fun.

"I am sad to leave, and that I can't do that anymore, but it was the best time," she said.

"It is hard for me. I know there are so many people in wheelchairs who live a good life, but I was active, I love to dance.

"I just want to walk again. I know the doctor says no, but my dream is to walk again someday."

Johnson, from Haringey, also urged others to make sure they had appropriate travel insurance when working abroad.

She said she initially had backpackers travel insurance, but her policy had lapsed.

"You never think it will happen to you," Johnson said.

"When I first came, I did the backpackers insurance for the first three months. Then it felt like home, I felt comfortable, I didn't really worry about the insurance."

In a message to others, she said: "Get the travel insurance, make sure it is one of the first things you do. Even if you don't have to use it, you have it and you're safe. You don't have the stress if something happens."

Her mother Lavern Gilzene said: "She has been a champion, she is doing really well. But it is a difficult situation."

She said they had set up an online fundraising page "to make sure she has a good life".

"It's not the end. She is a fighter," said Gilzene.

"She wants to walk. But we take each day. Our long term goal is that she will walk again. But we know we have a mountain to climb, and we are taking one day as it comes."

Gilzene said her daughter was given a "fit to fly" authorisation from the doctors in Egypt, and they will be returning to London's Heathrow Airport on 12 February.

"Our priority is getting home, getting her into UK hospitals, and then thinking about how we can adapt the home - where we are living isn't suitable."

The 53-year-old from Haringey added: "I won't be able to go back to work. I am a teacher, but I won't be able to go back to that."

She said the funds raised from the online fundraising page would also be used for specialist care.

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