BRAVE Ben Sheppard's biggest wish for his seventh birthday this month is to leave the hospital where he has been recovering from the car crash which killed his younger sister.

Ben, whose birthday is on October 31, suffered spinal injuries in the car accident in which his five-year-old sister Tamara-Jayne died, and doctors say he will never walk again.

His parents Penny and Lee are over the moon that doctors have started allowing Ben out of hospital to spend weekends at home in Compton Bassett but their wish, too, is to have him home for good.

Other children in Compton Bassett, where the family moved from Calne only in April, have opened their hearts to Ben and given him what his mum described as a fantastic homecoming.

As soon as Ben's new-found friends in the village heard he was at home, they flocked to visit him, showering him with home-made welcome home cards and taking him out to play.

Mrs Sheppard said: "They took it in turns pushing him in his wheelchair. I don't know where they took him, but when they brought him back he was plastered in mud and as happy as could be."

His parents and doctors were amazed that he survived his horrific injuries from the car crash on the A350 near Trowbridge three months ago. Two men travelling in another car, Craig Dicker, 23, and Adam Lumley, 21, both from Melksham, died.

Mr and Mrs Sheppard were injured in the crash and, they said, were prepared for the worst by the doctors at the Bristol Children's Hospital who feared Ben would not pull through.

But they could not account for Ben's bravery, his tenacious grip on life and his effervescent spirit which, Mrs Sheppard said, bore him through the ordeal from which he has emerged with an ever-present smile on his face.

Now he and his family are just waiting for the day when doctors say he can go home for good, although he faces further surgery in the future.

Mrs Sheppard, 35, said: "He has a plate and pins holding his spine where they fixed the break. They will have to come out in about four or six months when hopefully his spine will have knitted together."

Ben was transferred from Bristol to the world-famous spinal unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Buckinghamshire, where he has been learning to adapt to a wheelchair.

Mrs Sheppard said: "He is trying the pluck up the courage to do wheelies but at present he is still a bit nervous about toppling over backwards."

She said doctors were amazed at his progress and determination to get home. "They said it was a miracle he survived the injuries he had."

Ben's headteacher Paul Blake has visited the youngster throughout his hospital ordeal and St Edmund's RC School in Calne is preparing for his return once adaptations at the school for his wheelchair have been approved.

Ben's recovery, said his parents, has also been helped by a PlayStation computer games console which was bought for him by police who had been impressed with his bravery.

The Sheppards said they were particularly indebted for the help and support they had received from PC Alan Hunt, their family liaison officer.

PC Hunt said: "He has gone through a horrible ordeal this was just a little something we could give back."

Army officer Major Giles Stibb, 42, of Chipping Norton, has been charged with causing the deaths of Tamara-Jayne Sheppard, Craig Dicker and Adam Lumley by dangerous driving.