A WOMAN left brain-damaged and wheelchair-bound following a tragic car accident has been awarded almost £3million after winning a 10-year battle for compensation.

Following the settlement, Victoria Loader's family are now hoping the money will enable her to have a better quality of life.

The crash also claimed the life of her brother and his wife's unborn child.

Although she is pleased with the compensation victory, Victoria's mother Ann said: "Money doesn't compensate for life."

She added: "I think you don't get over it. You learn to live with it. People say it gets easier but it doesn't. I think it gets harder. Every one of my children has suffered in one form or another. It was only about 18 months ago that it really hit my middle son."

Victoria, who was 18 at the time of the accident, was a back-seat passenger in a Ford Fiesta which was involved in a head-on crash with a minibus on the A1079 bypass at Market Weighton, North Humberside, on May 30, 1992. She sued the driver of another Ford Fiesta, whose overtaking move caused the crash.

Victoria, now 28, spent six months in hospital recovering from the accident in which she suffered multiple broken bones and a severe head injury. As well as being confined to a wheelchair, she has been left with severe sight, speech, movement and memory problems.

Her brother Brendon Loader, 24, a father of two young boys, died in the collision and his six-and-a-half months pregnant wife Sharon suffered pelvic injuries, and miscarried two weeks later. Victoria's boyfriend, Ian Burfield, who was also in the car, died two years later from his injuries.

The male driver of the minibus was deeply affected by the accident. He also died two years later.

Looking back at the tragic events which have scarred the family from Skylark Rise, Whitchurch, Ann said: "We're a very close family. We talk about Brendon as if he is still here - if we don't then he is gone."

Yesterday, the motor insurers of the Fiesta driver - Andrea Lucas, from Scunthorpe - admitted liability and agreed to pay Victoria £2.95million in settlement of her claim.

David Foskell QC, for Victoria, told Mr Justice Hunt at London's High Court: "In this line of work, one is used to being humbled by the selfless devotion shown by families when tragedy befalls one of their members. This case is no exception - in fact I would place it at the top of the premier league.

"Despite all the turmoil they had suffered, when Vicky was eventually discharged from the hospital the family set about the task of looking after her in a manner which was admir-able."

The judge agreed that the conduct of Victoria's family, who are now looking to move to Portsmouth to better care for her needs, had been "humbling" and approved the settlement.