TEENAGER Sarah Webster from Cricklade is determined to celebrate her birthday at home with friends and family.

That's despite a painful operation earlier this week to repair her shattered wrists. She will be 19 on November 9.

She suffered horrific injuries after falling 30ft from a hotel balcony in Turkey three weeks ago.

On Monday surgeons used a bone graft from her elbow to repair some of the damage.

But the lengthy operation, which also involved inserting plates into her wrists, has left her in severe pain.

Her sister, Harriet Gray, 30, of Highworth, said: "Sarah is in tremendous pain and needs regular shots of morphine. It's a shame because she was making good progress.

"Earlier in the week she left her bed to walk for the first time since the accident.

"But for the last couple of days she has been in tears and has requested no visitors except close family."

Before the operation, surgeons had warned the family that there could be problems because of the complexity of the breaks.

But they successfully completed the task using the grafted bone and special plates.

"The fractures, especially the ones in her left wrist, were in a very peculiar place," said Mrs Gray.

"It was six hours before Sarah returned to the ward.

"She has to sleep on her back at the moment because she can't risk knocking her wrists."

Nationwide employee Sarah, who still hopes to represent Britain in the 2012 Olympics, has told her parents, Scott and Pat, that she intends to be home by her birthday.

Mrs Gray said: "She really wants to spend the day at home with her family. But the final decision will be made by the physiotherapists. They have told us that they need to be sure that she can move about on her own before they can allow her to leave the hospital."

The Nationwide worker spent two weeks in a Turkish hospital after the Post Office refused to honour a holiday insurance policy.

It claimed she was drunk at the time of the accident, which happened in the popular resort of Marmaris an allegation strongly denied by Sarah.

She amassed a £20,000 medical bill and doctors refused to allow her to fly home.

Eventually the policy underwriters backed down following pressure from north Swindon MP Michael Wills.