TODAY is the New Year that teenage motorcyclist James Nunn may never have seen.Nearly three weeks ago the 17-year-old's life was hanging in the balance after he crashed his motorbike on the B1456 just outside Shotley.

TODAY is the New Year that teenage motorcyclist James Nunn may never have seen.

Nearly three weeks ago the 17-year-old's life was hanging in the balance after he crashed his motorbike on the B1456 just outside Shotley.

His devastated family was told by Ipswich Hospital that if he did not go to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge he would be unlikely to survive.

But he did get there and after spending two weeks in intensive care, he has now been moved to a side ward where slowly but surely things are getting better.

Relieved dad Alan said: "It is still going to be a long journey, but he is getting there.

"We are over the first hurdle."

It has been a torrid few weeks for Alan, James's mum Pauline, 19-year-old brother Sam and six-year-old Josh as they waited for him to show signs of improvement.

James, who is a trainee mechanic at Vale Garage at Stratford St Mary, suffered a fractured skull and serious facial injuries in the crash.

Mr Nunn, 46 from Main Road, Chelmondiston said: "The doctors and nurses have been fantastic and we were with him all the time when he was in intensive care."

It was on Christmas Day that doctors decided to gradually start waking James up and it was Sunday before he woke up properly.

Mr Nunn said: "He is understanding things and is able to talk a bit, but it is still early days.

"He knows what he wants for breakfast though!"

James is still very tired and doctors have said it could take weeks or months for him to properly recover.

However it is hoped that he may soon be moved to Ipswich Hospital.

And the first thing the soccer mad youngster asked about when he woke up? Football of course!

Mr Nunn said that James has played football since he was around five years old and up until recently played for the Shotley Rangers.

He said: "He has hundreds of trophies and while he was playing for Shotley they won lots of matches."

James has since signed up to play for Ransomes and has also played for Suffolk's under 15's side.

But his real passion is Manchester United and he has even got a letter from Sir Alex Ferguson wishing him a speedy recovery and telling him to listen to what the doctors tell him.

When he was younger he even managed to get to meet the players.

Mr Nunn said police are still mystified by what caused the crash on the Saturday evening as James was making his way back home to Chelmondiston at around tea time on December 13.

It seems that James was only doing around 30mph as he went past the notorious accident blackspot outside the former Shotley Boot restaurant.

One person has died and others have been seriously injured on that stretch of road in the last six years.

Christopher Shepherd was just 20 when he was paralysed following a crash at the same spot in June 2000.