Hannah Jacobs is lucky to be able to walk today.

The eight-year-old spent six weeks in bed after a swimming accident at the sports centre in Oxford Road, Kidlington, which left her seventh vertebrae crushed.

Doctors said if the injury had been just one vertebrae lower she might never have walked again.

Yesterday, Hannah returned to the pool to thank the lifeguards whose fast action helped prevent her injury being far worse. She was given a 12-month free swimming pass for her bravery as she returned to the pool.

Hannah, of Marlborough Avenue, Kidlington, jumped into the shallow end of the pool feet first when she visited the pool during the February half-term. It was her first time in the pool by herself. She landed on the balls of her feet and froze with pain that shot up her back. Seeing the expression on her face, lifeguards Emma Kearney and Diane Davenport and duty manager Jo Jones jumped to her aid and the alarm was sounded.

The pool was cleared.

A board was attached to Hannah's back before she was lifted from the pool and taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, where doctors later explained she had a very lucky escape.

Hannah said: "I just jumped in but I forgot to bend my knees. It hurt very much and made me cry. I was trying to get out to my mum but I couldn't move. It was very frightening."

Her mother, Denise Jacobs, said: "I was not in the pool but I saw it happen. Your natural reaction as a mother is to grab your daughter and cuddle her. But the lifeguards explained it could cause more damage so I went to get a towel to keep her warm.

"She lost half an inch of the vertebrae and could not walk for six weeks. The guards and staff at the hospital were brilliant. They were very quick and knew exactly what to do."