Sara Payne has been left paralysed down the left side of her body after suffering a stroke brought on by a brain aneurysm, it has been reported.
The mother of murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne was taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting, south London before Christmas in a life-threatening condition.
Her family gathered at her bedside as doctors informed them she had a 50-50 chance of survival.
Mrs Payne, a child protection campaigner, survived two major brain operations in 36 hours but said she has a "long road" to recovery.
Speaking for the first time since the illness, Mrs Payne, who has deep scars from the surgery, told the News of the World: "I've got to take it slowly and be patient.
"The doctors have faith in me and know I'm a fighter. But I'm under no illusion - I've months of tough physio to get through and there's a long road ahead. Rehab is the key to my getting better, to my getting home and getting home is my top priority."
Mrs Payne, from Surrey, had a life-saving operation to cure a ruptured aneurysm in 2008.
Since the death of her eight-year-old daughter Sarah at the hands of paedophile Roy Whiting in 2000, she has become a prominent campaigner for victims' rights.
She took up the Government-appointed post of Victims' Champion at the end of January last year.
Mrs Payne, 40, launched a high-profile campaign for "Sarah's Law" after her daughter's murder, giving parents the right to know if paedophiles live near them. A limited form of the law, based on America's Megan's Law, was announced in February 2008.
