A WOMAN is suing her husband over a car crash which she says has ruined her life.

Lynn Pearson is claiming compensation from her husband, Kevin, after she suffered a stroke caused by injuries sustained in a road crash she says he was to blame for.

Mr Pearson was driving their Volkswagen Golf when it was involved in a collision with a Ford Focus in Eggleston, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, on New Year's Eve 2002.

His wife, 28, was in the front seat and hit her head on the side window, which is believed to be the cause of a stroke she suffered two days later.

Nearly two years after the accident, she has only partly recovered from the stroke and needs help with chores and to care for her children.

According to the legal writ issued at the High Court in London, Mrs Pearson has been left significantly disabled by the injuries, has brain damage and fears she will never be truly independent again.

The court will hear that Mrs Pearson believes her husband, who she lives with in Lyne Road, Spennymoor, negligently drove from a minor road into a major road without stopping. She also claims he drove into the side of a passing car, failed to avoid the collision and drove without care for other road users.

Mrs Pearson can now only walk a short distance with a stick, is liable to fall and has to use a wheelchair to get more than a few yards.

Her left arm is useless and she needs help with bathing, dressing and preparing food. Her sight was also briefly affected by the stroke, but that has since returned to normal.

She suffers from uncontrollable bouts of laughter without provocation, emotionally overreacts, and is now unemployable despite having above-average, intelligence before the accident.