WEDDING day flower girl Sophie Graham, who was knocked down and left for dead by a hit-and-run driver, has made a good recovery from her injuries.

The five-year-old's first words when she woke in her hospital bed were: "Can I have a bacon buttie and some ice cream?"

Sophie was left fighting for her life after she was hit by banned driver Garry Wilkinson, 30, as she paraded for friends in her bridesmaid's outfit.

Wilkinson, who already had a string of driving convictions, fled the accident on Tyneside.

Sophie suffered a double fracture to her skull and a double fracture of her right ankle, as well as cuts and bruises.

For three days after the accident, her parents, Andrea and Mark, of Northbourne Street, Gateshead, kept a vigil at her bedside in the intensive care unit at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, where she lay unconscious.

Mrs Graham, 27, and her husband, who are both printers, said they were delighted when their daughter opened her eyes.

Mr Graham, 28, said: "It's just amazing. You couldn't see Sophie for wires and tubes. She had a respirator, neck brace, umpteen tubes, a drip and heart monitors.

"A bolt was fitted to her head to prevent pressure building up, but you wouldn't think anything was wrong with her to look at her now".

Doctors were forced to keep the youngster sedated because she had bruising to her brain and they did not want it to swell any more.

Now, her parents say Sophie is looking forward to going back home later this week and playing with her brothers Matthew, six, and three-year-old Ben.

Wilkinson, of Wardley, near Gateshead, was jailed for six months and banned from driving for the third time in two years.