Only 14 months ago, she was a victim in an horrific road smash which almost cost the 19-year-old her life. The Renault Clio she was driving was hit by an ambulance on the A32 at Mislingford, near Wickham, on February 9 last year.

Jessica suffered a horrific head injury so severe that when Dr Steve Smallwood and consultant anaesthetist Sam Hutchings – all three are pictured on the front page – reached her they were almost certain she would not survive.

But thanks to the life-saving efforts of the doctors – who were volunteers with the Hampshire branch of the British Association of Immediate Care at the time – she pulled through.

Yesterday it was all smiles as the trio were reunited for the first time since Jessica's brush with death, and she was delighted to meet the people who saved her life.

She said: 'I think they're amazing. I can't thank them enough. They are just fantastic people. I know for a fact I wouldn't be alive if they hadn't helped me. That's why I'm so thankful to them.'

Dr Smallwood, who is also a GP at the Wickham Group Surgery in Station Road, Wickham, said: 'When I got there, Jessica was in the car. There was a paramedic looking after her, supporting her head and trying to keep her airways open.

'She was deeply unconscious and had clearly suffered a severe head injury. I said at the time they will be turning the ventilator off in a few days. It's amazing how well she's done.

'Seeing people like Jessica is the reason we do it. She's the proof that what we do works.'

Consultant anaesthetist and intensive care registrar Mr Hutchings said: 'Jessica is amazing. I didn't know what to expect because I hadn't seen her since the accident. I'm flabbergasted.

'The last time I saw her she was in a particularly bad way. You can't get a more serious head injury and still be alive.

'I gave her an anaesthetic so Jessica could be put on a ventilator to control her breathing. Within half-an-hour she was at Southampton General Hospital.'

Parents Vicky, 48, and Jason, 44, waited anxiously at Jessica's bedside as she lay paralysed and comatose, fearing she might never wake.

Three weeks after the smash Jessica was brought out of her coma, however she was desperately weak, partially paralysed and unable to speak or eat.

The teenager, from Swanmore, near Fareham, spent a further five months at a specialist rehabilitation unit before finally being discharged in August.

She can remember nothing of the smash and may never fully recover. However, Jessica has astounded the doctors with her progress.

Jessica said: 'I know what happened because people have explained it to me but I can't remember any of it.

'I know I had already been at Southampton General Hospital in the day shadowing a radiographer. I had come home to go and see my friends because we were off out clubbing.

'I was on the way to see one of them when the accident happened. I don't really remember anything else.

'Now I want to get my life back on track and just have fun.

'I'm only 19, I spent most of the last year of my life in hospital and I just want to do things that normal people my age do. For my birthday last year I was in a hospital bed. I wanted to go out clubbing but I couldn't – I just had to listen to everyone else outside having fun.

'It's my turn now.'