TEARS stream down Sharon Watson's face as she recalls how her children have helped to pull her life back together.

As she sits in the bar in Darlington's Nestfield Club, friends and family are arriving to help Sharon celebrate her return to the outside world, eight months after her ordeal at the hands of armed robber Gary Pattison.

It is only the second time that the mother-of-two has been out of the house since the attack last July.

The 31-year-old was working at the Spar shop, in Haughton Village, Darlington, when Pattison pushed a knife towards her chest and face and demanded money - an experience that left her severely traumatised.

It was revealed later in court that Pattison had conducted a ten-day reign of terror, carrying out attacks at shops throughout the North-East.

He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in January after a trial during which Sharon could only give evidence from behind a screen.

So traumatic was the armed robbery, Sharon was unable to return to her job as assistant manager of the store.

The mother-of-two, from Red Hall, Darlington, suffered from daily panic attacks and was too afraid to leave her home. Thanks to the love and care of her children, Danielle and Charlie, she is slowly recovering.

"That man has ruined my life," she said. "I have not been able to put it behind me, but I have moved on and I would not have been able to do that without the encouragement of Charlie and Danielle.

"The armed robbery happened the first week of the summer holidays and, afterwards, I just felt like I couldn't go out, but the kids went with the flow. They said it didn't matter and that we could go out another time."

Somebody who witnessed closely the pain and trauma Sharon has suffered was her mother, Carol.

She, too, wells with tears as she recalls just how brave her daughter and grandchildren have been.

"It has been a very stressful and emotional time," she said. "Sharon was having panic attacks a lot and the bairns would call me up and say that mam was having a funny turn. They would get her tablets and a paper bag for her to breathe into.

"Kids should not have to go through what they have been through at their ages but they still went to school and carried on being strong."

Danielle and Charlie, who both attend Red Hall Primary School, made cards of encouragement for their mother, writing messages "to the strongest mam in the world".

Sharon has been so moved by the strength of her children that she has nominated them for a Positive Young People award. The awards, organised by The Northern Echo and Darlington Partnership and sponsored by npower, were set up to recognise the achievements of children in Darlington.

"They were so brave," she said. "They gave me the encouragement to carry on.

"They have coped so brilliantly, they were like two adults. I want to say thank you to them because I could not have got through this without them."

Her father Doug, mother, partner Craig and sisters Sue, 30 and Nic, 25, have all been there for her, too, she said. Judge Peter Fox, who oversaw the trial, has also written to Sharon to thank her for being so brave during the hearing.

As Sharon heads off to greet her guests, including police officers and victim support workers who have all helped her cope, she smiles.

"I am really excited," she said. "I feel like a little kid. This is the end of a horrible chapter in my life.