A woman from Oldham who has been wheelchair-bound since suffering a major injury almost three years ago has been selected for a year's worth of free gardening.

Nikkie Whitehead from the Watersheddings area of Oldham suffered from a spinal injury in 2020 following failed back surgery.

Before the incident, she used to love sports and the outdoors, including her pristine garden with its beautiful borders and neatly trimmed grass which she called her "happy place".

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But the 39-year-old now relies on a wheelchair to get around and has been unable to maintain the garden she worked so hard to create.

Since she struggles to get outside and enjoy the garden, the woman said she keeps her curtains closed to avoid the reminder of what she's missing.

However, she has now been selected for a complete garden transformation to help her reclaim her sanctuary.

Ms Whitehead's mother nominated her for the prize which is brought by GreenThumb, a lawn care service, which will now be treating her garden as part of its 'share the lawn love' campaign.

The programme will see the company treat more than 160 lawns across the country free of charge this year.

Ms Whitehead said: "For the last two and a half years, I have been housebound following a spinal injury which turned my world upside down and left me unable to enjoy my passion for gardening.

"My beautiful garden over this time was taken over by moss and weeds, which resulted in me keeping my curtains closed because I couldn’t bear to see what I was unable to access."

The woman said she is "delighted" to be nominated by her mother and thanked "all the people from GreenThumb" for being "very kind, thoughtful and considerately respectful".

"I am so very grateful for the difference they have already made to my life and it means so much to me that I feel able to go outside again and enjoy my surroundings", she added.

Paul Edwards, managing director at GreenThumb, said: “With everything that’s happening in the world outside our control, more and more people are turning to their gardens, local green spaces and nature for quite literal grounding.

“We’re proud to be able to help local people just like Nikkie, at a time when transforming lawns into green sanctuaries will have an even greater impact on the wellbeing of the recipients.”

The gardening expert said lawns are "much more than just a carpet of grass".

"They provide both personal and social spaces for relaxation and recovery, happy places to unwind or share with friends and family, which is why it's so important to look after them - because they look after us."

The campaign received more than 700 nominations and all the nominees were carefully selected by volunteers of Scotland's Gardens Scheme or the National Garden Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Oldham GreenThumb branch also said it was "so excited" to see the positive effects of its hard work and treatments on the recipient's lives.

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