TRAMPOLINE star Maya Rockett bounced back from a car crash and defied doctors to win a major competition.

The eight-year-old, of Burnopfield, near Stanley, County Durham, suffered severe whiplash injuries when the family car was involved in a road crash on the Tyne Bridge.

With only two weeks to go before a regional trampoline contest, doctors warned that she should not compete or even train.

But the youngster proved them all wrong.

Not only did she take part, she performed a routine she had never attempted before, wowed the judges and won her age group.

"I wanted to do it - I love it," said Maya. "It is fun and you get to bounce around all over the place."

Her mother, Rachael, said: "We were stationery on the Tyne Bridge in a queue of traffic when a black Range Rover ploughed into the back of a car behind us, and that knocked into us.

"Maya was sat in the middle of the back seat, so she came off worst.

"We were very worried about her - she lost her balance, had dizzy spells and muscle injuries all down her spine.

"This kid had been looking forward to the competition and all of a sudden she couldn't even do a backward roll. But she was so determined and in the end she stormed to the title."

After her success at the regional finals, held in Cowgate, Newcastle, last Sunday, Maya and her father, Duncan, will travel to Gillingham, in Kent, for the national qualifiers in June.

The youngster, part of the Superflyers Club, in Sunderland, where she is trained by Rachel Sadler, already has one eye on the finals, which will be held in Bournemouth in November.

"We used to live in Bournemouth and the finals are at my old club, so I really want to get there so I can see my old coaches and all my friends," she said.