A CHILDREN'S television actress has told how she nearly died in a road accident.

Kim Tserkezie, who plays Penny Pocket in the hit BBC show Balamory, was thrown from her wheelchair when the taxi she was travelling in braked to avoid hitting another car.

The 31-year-old was left badly injured on the floor of the taxi. Her ten-year-old son, Jay, who was travelling with her, was unhurt.

Ms Tserkezie, from Heaton, Newcastle, was diagnosed with a muscle deterioration illness in her legs when young. She became a household name after playing bubbly shop girl Penny Pocket on the Bafta award-winning show.

She was taken to Newcastle General Hospital after the accident, and is recovering at home. She said: "I'm so thankful to be alive. If we had hit the car in front of us, I probably would have gone through the windscreen and it would have been a lot worse.

"Because of the way I was clamped in and the taxi was built, I was flung out of the chair and went full force down on to my knees.

"I have never felt pain like it and I have been through childbirth and had spinal surgery.

"This was worse than both of them. It was excruciating."

The near-crash happened outside the Corner House pub, in Heaton, at about 7pm on New Year's Day.

She said: "Jay was really calm and kept saying 'Mum, are you alright'. He was really brave about it all. I'm glad it was me that was hurt and not him."

Doctors told Ms Tserkezie she had pulled all the ligaments in her legs, and suffered internal bleeding in her knees that caused swelling and severe pain.