Melanie on the mend

GOOD news from The Times’ Scotland-based columnist, Melanie Reid, who broke her neck and back after falling from a horse last month.

Writing from her hospital bed for The Times Magazine, Melanie reports that she has moved out of the high dependency ward and into the rehab unit.

She says: “I can now tune my radio, put on headphones, grasp a mug of tea, feed myself, scratch my unwashed hair and press the call button at night. I even managed a shaky signature. These are all landmarks.”

And she reveals: “I am delighted to find I can type with three fingers on my right hand. As a result, for the first time, these words come via a laptop rather than a Dictaphone. But the simplest things – control-alt-delete – defeat me totally: I must persuade a busy nurse to hit delete while I fumble the other two keys.”

Melanie was an award-winning columnist and senior assistant editor on The Herald before joining the Scottish staff of The Times.