AFTER winning a gold medal at the World Rowing Championships 14 months ago, Naomi Riches, of Box Tree Lane, Harrow Weald, was looking forward to a bright future.

But just five months later, the 22-year-old disabled athlete almost lost her life when she was mowed down by a speeding car.

Naomi, who is blind, suffered a fractured shoulder in three places, two broken ribs and two fractures to her skull.

She was rushed to the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead and put on a life support machine.

Doctors did not know whether she would survive, let alone row again.

But after defying the odds to make a full recovery, brave Naomi is on the verge of re-selection for the British Adaptive World Championship team.

She said: "I did time trials on June 25 and they went well. I'm now waiting for a letter to find out if I've got my place back.

"The worlds are in Japan on August 28 and I'd love to be there. I'm delighted just to be rowing again but to make the squad would be amazing."

Naomi was over-joyed to win a place at last year's championships in Spain.

After an intensive training schedule, Naomi and the team scooped gold in the Mixed Coxed Fours LTA (Legs, Trunks and Arms).

She said: "To be picked was incredible. I didn't expect to win a medal, certainly not a gold one.

"I was on a high and couldn't wait for my next challenge."

But an ordinary night out with university pals would change all that.

Naomi, a third-year metal work and jewellery student at High Wycombe university, was crossing the road when a Mercedes ploughed into her.

"I wasn't breathing but fortunately there was doctor on a nearby night bus," she said. "He got me to hospital and I was on a life support machine for a week.

"It was a horrendous accident but I recovered well and surprised doctors by being discharged after only three weeks."

After convalescing at home, Naomi's health significantly improved by Christmas last year.

"Every day was a new challenge," she said. "I'd been building up my shoulder with dumbbells but was keen to try the rowing machine again and in January I did."

It went so well that a month later, she re-started training, putting in countless hours at the Regatta Centre in the Royal Docks.

She said: "I'm actually stronger now than before the accident. I've got back to this level through hard work and determination."

It paid off because by June, she was doing time trials for the British team.

"It was an emotional moment when I got back in the water with the team," she said. "It's been a gradual process to get back to that standard. I'm healed physically, but I'm still working on it from the inside."

Whether or not she makes the British squad, Naomi's extraordinary recovery has already proved her gold medal credentials.

Naomi will row in the Isle of Wight, Round The Island Challenge, on July 21 to raise money for three charities: The Lisa Wilson School Fund; the Haemachromatosis Society and the GB Adaptive Rowing Squad.

If Naomi and her fellow competitors raise £15,000, bookmakers Ladbrokes have agreed to double the figure.

To sponsor her, email njr_83@hotmail.co.uk