A MIRACLE mum who 'died twice' after a horror road crash is still battling the aftermath of the accident more than 30 years later.

Janice Morrison was only 27 when a split-second decision changed her life forever.

She and her husband has been walking home from night out when a friend offered them a lift home.

Unbeknown to them, the man had been drinking and crashed the car into a lamp-post, leaving Janice with brain damage and a lifetime of pain.

Janice's only child Lorraine, who was five at the time, said: "My mum was sitting behind the passenger seat and her head was stuck between the door and seat and she had to be cut out.

"Her injuries were so severe, she 'died' twice in the ambulance to the Southern General."

Lorraine, now 39, said: "The doctors asked my dad who Lorraine was and they said if it wasn’t for her she wouldn’t be alive as she kept shouting my name."

Janice, 60, of Prospecthill Street, said: "It happened at the junction of Bow Road and the playpark, in Inverkip Road.

"It's all a blank, I don't remember anything."

Janice spent six months in the Southern, before being transferred back to Inverclyde for rehabilitation.

Lorraine, an operations manager with BMI Healthcare, said: "I was told children couldn't go into the hospital but it was because my family didn't want me to see her when she was so ill.

"The brain damage meant she didn't know who anyone was and she didn't understand a lot of things, she was like a child again.

"In addition to the brain damage, the accident left her with rheumatoid arthritis everywhere in her body."

Janice, who had previously been happily married, bringing up her daughter and working in Merino Mill, felt her world was in tatters.

She said: "My life changed forever, I felt it was over. I couldn't do anything for my daughter, I couldn't take her to school or anything."

Janice even had to battle for the right to get hip and knee replacement surgeries.

Lorraine said: "Over the years her arthritis deteriorated and she could barely walk but refused a wheelchair.

"As she was so young she was refused the operations but didn’t give up and eventually won and had both hips and knees replaced."

This gave the grandmother some temporary respite but she still suffers every day with pain and her artificial joints are so old that they need replaced.

But the remarkable lady has done all she can to make the most of her life.

Janice found love and for more than 10 years enjoyed the companionship of her partner Graham until he sadly died in September 2017.

Lorraine said: "It was a complete shock and a devastating time for my mum as she also lost her dad a few years before that."

Janice said: "Graham was a lovely man and used to come up to visit me every day."

Janice does her best to visit her 83-year-old mum Agnes O'Neill, who has dementia, at Marchmont House care home.

Lorraine lives in Erskine with husband Bryan and they have a son Daniel, eight, who is a source of joy to her mum.

Lorraine said: "One of his friends said that his gran had died, and Daniel said 'my gran died twice and she is still alive!'"

Last July, Janice faced another major setback when she suffered a terrible fall.

Lorraine said: "She dragged herself out to the living room where she lay for 12 hours in agonising pain. My aunt went to visit her and could hear her screams but we couldn’t get in as she'd bolted the door. A locksmith took a further two hours and we eventually got into her 14 hours after her fall."

This terrifying ordeal left her with a broken femur and burst her artificial hip.

Lorraine said: "Unfortunately the hip dislocated eight times, each time she was back under anaesthetic, causing even more trauma."

The accident meant that the family had to call off plans to mark Janice's 60th birthday.

Janice's inner strength was tested to the limit again after another hip revision caused an infection and the hip had to come out again.

Lorraine said: "By this time even my mum was so depressed and just couldn’t understand why she hasn’t had any luck in her whole life.

"That was a very hard time for us all."

Janice spent two months in hospital fighting the infection and got back out just before Christmas but she admits the last few months have taken their toll.

Janice said: "I was independent before but now I can't leave the house on my own. I've lost my confidence."

Just as she was trying to get her life back on track her best friend died unexpectedly in January aged 54.

She said: "She had the flu for about a week, went to the doctor and two days later she was dead.

"It was a terrible shock."

Janice still does as much as she can without carers and is trying to move on with her life.

Lorraine is full of admiration for her mum and has nominated her for the Tele's Mum in a Million competition.

She said: "I hope my mum wins as I want her to know what she means to me, how much I love her and how much of an inspiration she is to me and anyone who knows her.

"She's the strongest person I've ever met.

"She has had had to cope with everything life has thrown at her since she was 27 and still has a smile on her face.

"This past year or so has been the worst year of her life, losing her partner and best friend on top of her own horrific health issues.

"I wish I could do something to show her what she means to me and to everyone else in her family."