WHEN jockey Scott Taylor suffered severe head injuries in a horrific racing accident two years ago he was lucky to have survived.

Now his remarkable journey back to health has been made all the more precious by the news that he is expecting his first child after finding love with his carer.

Scott, 29, and Teresa Lishman were delighted when doctors told them she was more than four months pregnant.

Since then the pair have got engaged and Scott's greatest wish is that he will be able to walk down the aisle with Teresa, 24, when the couple get married sometime in the future.

"It was a shock at first," said Scott, speaking from his home in Fishburn, County Durham.

"But our families are over the moon. I love everything about her."

The former National Hunt jockey has made remarkable progress since he fell from his horse at Perth Racecourse, Scotland, on August 20, 1999, and damaged the core of his brain.

His ride, Te Akau Dan, caught its legs on a fence, catapulting the young jockey into the air before he landed on his head. Scott died twice while he was on the race course before being brought back to life, and his family had an agonising time when he was in a coma for three weeks.

But several weeks after the accident he began to communicate, and slowly regain his speech while gaining strength in his right arm and leg which had been left with limited movement.

His single-minded determination has since seen him recover his speech and he can now take a few steps at a time with the aid of a walking frame.

Meanwhile, his family and friends, including his fellow jockeys and trainers, who set up a fund for Scott, have raised more than £150,000 through charity concerts and events.

Scott met Teresa in July last year when she became one of his 24-hour carers. She was immediately attracted to his great sense of humour and the two spent hours talking.

"We just clicked and we got on brilliantly," she said.

"With doing the 24-hour care, we grew really close over a long period of time.

"Being his carer, I was a bit reluctant to get involved, but in the end I thought if I want to be with him and he wants to be with me, that was worth more."

Teresa, who no longer works as a carer, is due to give birth at the end of February.

Scott is convinced they will have a baby boy. If his prediction is correct, the pair have decided to name him Geoffrey after Teresa's father, who died in an accident when he was hit by a car in Sedgefield last October.

The couple have yet to set a date for their wedding, but Scott is determined to walk down the aisle when their big day arrives