The future of a 12-year-old girl is secure after she was awarded more than £15 million for her severe disabilities caused during birth problems at Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

Holly Greenhow, from Hemingford Grey, will receive a £6.4 million lump sum and annual payments to cover her future care costs which will take the total to just under £15.5 million - although the sum could be higher if she lives into old age.

The youngster was left with athetoid cerebral palsy and came close to death after her birth at Hinchingbrooke. She will require care for the rest of her life.

But now Holly, a pupil at Impington Village College, is beginning to make her views known, despite communication and complex physical problems, and has said she wants to go to university.

Mum Fiona, 46, welcomed the court settlement after a 12-year battle, but said: “Having a child like Holly, this does not end the day-to-day challenges which will still be there. Every day is different.”

She said her pregnancy had proceeded normally but that she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia - which can put mother and baby at risk - and a decision was taken to induce the birth during which Holly was starved of oxygen.

“If I had had a caesarean Holly should have been fine and the outcome very, very different,” Mrs Greenhow said.

She said the money was Holly’s and would be invested for her future care.

Mrs Greenhow, who has husband Paul, 50, and son Oliver, 15, said: “We are delighted with the award, but it has taken a long time and has a lot of emotional energy to get where we are.

“We would rather the whole thing had not happened and there isn’t a day where I do not regret it but the money means that Oliver will not have to look after Holly in future.

“Now we can help other people going through this so at least some good comes out of it.”

She said it had taken the hospital seven years to accept any responsibility for the incident.

Mrs Greenhow said Holly was a “very bright little girl” who enjoyed modelling work she had done and her communication skills were coming on in leaps and bounds.

She said Holly enjoyed being a model and being on TV and in the newspapers which gave her an extra interest in life and an opportunity to stand up for other people with disabilities.

Holly has undergone pioneering stem cell treatment in America and will go back again for a further session of treatment which has become more effective since her last trip.

“As parents you do anything you can which will make a difference,” Mrs Greenhow said. “We just want Holly to be able to live the most fulfilling life that she can.”

She said new technology may be able to help Holly unlock her potential.

Mrs Greenhow said she wanted Holly to be able to interact more with other young people so she would be able to do more of the things that young people do.

“When she is older I want her to have carers who are her own age,” she said.

Dr Kanchan Rege, medical director at North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust which runs Hinchingbrooke Hospital, said: “We can confirm that the court has recently approved a settlement relating to a long-running case involving a birth injury at Hinchingbrooke Hospital.

“The care received was investigated in detail, but due to patient confidentiality we are unable to provide further information about the case.”