I forgive the men who shot me....now I'm helping other survivors of spinal injury

Paralysed Thusha unveils her new charity

- AMANDA STOCKS

Dancing joyfully in the aisle of her uncle's shop when she was gunned down in the crossfire of a gangland shooting, the CCTV images of five-year-old Thusha Kamaleswaran shocked the nation.

Now, 14 years later on International Women's day, this truly inspirational person is announcing in The Mirror the launch of a charity, Spinal Hope, to help others like her.

Thusha suffered devastating spinal cord injuries that fateful night in Stockwell, South London, when she was left paralysed from the waist down.

The youngster was the innocent victim of a mindless feud when Nathaniel Grant, then 21, Kazee, Kolawole, 19, and Anthony McCalla 19, burst into the shop intending to hit a rival drug dealer.

But such is her courage, Thusha has found it in her heart to forgive the men who changed her life and ended her dream of becoming a dancer.

She is now studying medicine in Cambridge. Sitting on the banks of the River Cam, she tells us: "I want to use my experience to bring hope to spinal cord injury survivors.

"To suddenly be told your whole life is changing and all your hopes and dreams are ripped away can be devastating, so the charity aims to help people both emotionally and financially."

The gangsters who shot her were jailed for life. Grant was ordered to serve at least 17 years and Kolawole and McCalla 14.

Thusha says: "I do forgive them, they did change my life and maybe things would be different if I wasn't in a wheelchair but I am still happy.