An Australian teenage attempted kidnapping victim who woke from a coma to find out she was pregnant says injuries she suffered during the incident meant she kept forgetting she was about to become a mum.
After suffering serious head injuries from the attempted kidnapping, which occurred when she was about a month into the pregnancy, April-Lee Gillen had to be constantly reminded she was pregnant.
In the early hours of April 20 last year, the 17-year-old was dragged into a black BMW SUV by two men who had approached her in Warrawong, south of Wollongong.
After driving off, the Year 10 student managed to escape from the moving car but injured herself.
She spent more than a month in intensive care and suffered memory loss.
After being woken from a coma, she had no idea she was carrying a child.
"I said 'Am I pregnant? Oh my goodness'. And then I would forget because I had that thing still where I'd forget each day," she told Network Nine.
Initially police thought she had been the victim of a hit-and-run but now they believe it was a kidnap attempt with those responsible still on the run.
She has since had a baby boy.
Medical staff and police are amazed at April-Lee's remarkable recovery. She was believed to have been about four weeks pregnant when the attempted abduction occurred.
Her son, Jacobie, was born on Christmas Eve.
Despite her injuries, April-Lee never considered terminating her pregnancy.
"I said to mum 'It's a little baby' and I said 'I'm giving birth to him' or 'I'm bringing him into this world, so I'm not going to think about getting rid of him at all'," she said.
Her mother, Leonie, was worried for her daughter's well-being.
"At first I've got to admit I was concerned," Leonie told A Current Affair.
"But then later on, as April healed much more, she was clearer, well spoken and quite determined in what she wanted. So I said to April 'I'll be right by your side'. And it's the best decision we've made."
In November police released CCTV footage, which shows the suspected 4WD involved driving in the area around the time of the incident.
April-Lee had left her Lake Heights home, where she lived with her mother, about 7pm to visit her boyfriend Miles, who lived close by.
She was found at 2am lying in the gutter by a passing motorist.
- AAP