MEKALA Osborne’s family limited their Christmas Day celebrations to a small breakfast in their home as they decided to put the festivities on hold due to her condition.

The 22-year-old, from Wallyford, a former Preston Lodge High School pupil, fell ill while travelling through Vietnam with what was originally diagnosed as bronchial pneumonia.

After being put into an induced coma in a critical condition, Mekala was moved to a hospital in Singapore before she eventually travelled to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Mekala’s mum Yvonne Bonnar McAulay said Mekala was now able to sit up in a chair for several hours a day and was being weaned off a ventilator; however she said it feels like a bit of a “standstill” time in her recovery.

She told the Courier: “Due to everything that’s happened, we feel it’s appropriate to put Christmas on hold.

“We will have a wee breakfast for [her brother] Danny: he doesn’t understand Christmas so it’s pretty much another day for him, but we are doing our best to give Danny his own wee special Christmas Day.

“Granny is helping out so I can spend the afternoon and some of the night with Mekala.

“It is a long road ahead as she needs to get her lungs working properly and then concentrate on gaining her muscle back throughout her body, then physio will start.

“She will be in isolation until after the year. All being well we can start rehab, physio etc and that will be when the real hard work starts.

“How strong she is will determine when she leaves hospital.

“Fortunately, she’s a very fit young lady which has gotten her this far. The best Christmas gift we got was having her back in Scotland. And she’s still smiling.”

An online fundraising page set up to support her family while they stayed by her side in Asia raised more than £12,000.