What happened to Angel Lynn? Channel 4 documentary The ...

Angel Lynn was just 19 when her abusive ex-boyfriend bundled her into a van and kidnapped her in September 2020.

She suffered catastrophic brain injuries that almost killed her when she fell out of the moving van head-first at 60mph on the A6 near Loughborough.

Her ex-boyfriend claimed Angel had fallen or jumped from the van, but her mother Nikki Lynn, 48, believes she was pushed, despite him being cleared of grievous bodily harm.

Angel was left paralysed and unable to eat, walk or talk by herself.

The youngster was a bubbly college student from Loughborough who had wanted to become a forensic scientist for the police.

Angel Lynn, now 22, suffered catastrophic brain injuries when she fell out of a moving van head-first at 60mph

The bubbly college student from Loughborough (pictured with her mother Nikki) had wanted to become a forensic scientist

She suffered catastrophic brain injuries that almost killed her when she fell out of the moving van head-first at 60mph on the A6 near Loughborough. Pictured: Angel awake in Hospital in Nottingham

Her boyfriend Chay Bowskill, then 20, had already been to prison once during their relationship and after he threw her violently against a wall, Angel decided to escape the abusive relationship and leave him.

That was when the coercive thug kidnapped her with his friend Rocco Sansome, who was driving the van. 

The shocking moment of her kidnapping in Rothley, Leicestershire, was caught on CCTV.

After Angel fell from the van, Bowskill and Sansome drove off, leaving members of the public to find Angel in the middle of the road

Shocking CCTV footage (left and right) shows Angel Lynn, 19, being forced into a van by 20-year-old Chay Bowskill, her boyfriend at the time

After she fell from the van, Bowskill and Sansome drove off, leaving members of the public to find Angel in the middle of the road.

Doctors told her mother Nikki and father Patrick, 53, that their daughter would not survive.

Her injuries were so severe that doctors feared she would not survive. 

Angel, now 22, has been left needing round-the-clock care.

Angel is recovering and undergoing rehabilitative treatment.

She has defied the odds and can now stand and she has started to swallow. 

In September last year, Angel's mother said she was warned her daughter's injuries were fatal but she was starting to regain movement on her left side and relearn how to swallow.

Angel requires round-the-clock care after she suffered catastrophic injuries from the fall 

The 22-year-old suffered life-changing brain damage when she fell into the road from a van after being kidnapped but is making progress in her recovery, her mum said

Her mother Nikki Lynn (pictured last year with Angel), said doctors warned her that Angel had sustained fatal injuries but she is slowly recovering and undergoing rehabilitative treatments

Angel’s fight for survival has astonished doctors at the Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, where she was given the last rites three times.

Her family hope that soon she might be able to recount what happened in the run-up to Bowskill kidnapping her.

In January 2022, Bowskill was handed a seven-and-a-half-year sentence after being found guilty of kidnap, coercive and controlling behaviour, and perverting the course of justice, following a trial at Leicester Crown Court.

His sentence was then nearly doubled after senior judges at the Court of Appeal concluded his original term for the kidnap was not long enough and handed him four-and-a-half more years.

Chay Bowskill, 20, (pictured), from Syston, Leicestershire, was convicted of kidnap, coercive and controlling behaviour and perverting the course of justice following a trial at Leicester Crown Court 

Sansome received 21 months. Bowkill's sentence was later increased to 12 years, although Sansome's was not changed.

Bowskill, of Syston, Leicestershire, was also convicted of coercive and controlling behaviour and perverting the course of justice.

He was cleared of causing grievous bodily harm after it became unclear how Angel had left the van.

The programme is hoping to give a voice to victims of coercive control. 

It features recordings of phone calls between Bowskill and Angel and will show text messages and social media posts to show her the youngster became trapped in an abusive relationship.

The film follows her rehabilitation and gradual recovery from the serious injuries she suffered, as her family hopes she may be able to remember and communicate the details about the events leading up to her injuries.

It also shows the emotional moment Angel signs 'I love you too' to her mother. 

The extraordinary footage shows just how far Angel has come with her recovery after ordeal

The incredibly emotional clip showed Angel speaking in sign language to her mother Nikki

The footage gave an insight into how Angel had improved from her original kidnap injuries

She can be seen in the film in her mobility chair as Nikki tenderly holds her hand and tell her 'You will get there you know. You have come so far in the last year.'

And as her mother tells her 'I love you', Angel points to her eye, her heart, then her parent, before making the number two with her fingers to reciprocate back. 

Nikki replies to her 'I know you do baby'.

The Kidnap of Angel Lynn is on Channel 4 at 9pm today.