A woman who survived a 40ft plunge from a second-floor window has spoken for the first time about lucky she was to survive - but still cannot remember anything about the fall.

Samantha Hopper, 21, suffered serious head injuries when she fell from her flat window in Alnwick, Northumberland, in July.

Paramedics spent more than an hour attending to her after she was found lying in a pool of blood.

Ms Hopper was taken to Wansbeck General Hospital, before being transferred to Newcastle General Hospital, where she underwent lifesaving surgery to remove a blood clot from her brain.

She remained in a coma for several days.

Despite fears she might not pull though, Ms Hopper says her life has almost returned to normal five months on.

She is living at her mother's house at Cedar Grove, but spends a lot of time back at the Market Place flat, where she fell, with her partner, also Samantha.

"I'm feeling a lot better now," she said. "I was told I was on death's door, so I was very lucky. My life is going on as it was before and my family are glad I'm still here."

Samantha, who does not remember her fall, celebrated her 21st birthday this week and said she was glad to be alive to see her birthday and Christmas. Two weeks ago, she had an operation on her hand after her thumb was dislocated in the fall. Surgeons moved a tendon from a finger to the damaged thumb.