Ukrainain migrant worker Ms Oksana Sukhanova, who had her legs amputated after being found with frostbite on the streets of Coleraine, Co Derry, on New Year's Day, has been transferred to a rehabilitation unit where new limbs are to be fitted.
The process is expected to take months. Medical staff at Musgrave Park Hospital in Belfast have been unable to make any comment about her condition.
However, a hospital source said that staff, encouraged by her progress, have supplied her with several Russian novels to help her pass the time between surgery and sessions of intensive physiotherapy. "She is practically eating books. I've had to order her Pushkin and the classics off the Internet," the source said.
Ms Sukhanova (23), has spoken by telephone to her mother at home in Ukraine, but it is unlikely her mother will travel to Northern Ireland in the near future. - (PA)