A HAMPSHIRE woman is fighting for her life in a Caribbean hospital after her car careered off the road and smashed into a tree.

The 30-year-old, who has been named locally in the Cayman Islands as Kate Clayton, is critical in a coma after following the accident in her Jeep Wrangler as she returned home from a night out.

Kate is understood to be a former Wildern School girl who grew up in the Southampton area.

She moved to Grand Cayman in December 2013 after leaving her job at Sky TV where she had worked for three years.

Her current job is as a dive master, helping people to explore in the Caribbean Sea with Tortuga Divers, part of a company called Red Sail Sport.

Daily Echo:

Kate Clayton

The horror crash happened on Old Robin Road, in the islands' East End on January 11, leaving Kate with injuries to her back as well as a broken neck and pelvis.

Sources on the island told how Kate has been out with friends at a bar and restaurant called Over The Edge on the night the crash happened.

She is understood to still be in a coma two weeks after the accident and it is thought her dad, Bill, has flown out to be at her bedside at George Town Hospital where her condition is described as serious but stable.

Last night her colleagues at Tortuga Divers told the Daily Echo that they did not feel it was appropriate to comment at this stage.

Police on the island are investigating the accident which they say happened as Kate took a sharp bend in the road.

Daily Echo:

The Cayman Islands

A spokesman from Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) said: “On January 11 2015 at about 21:52 pm 911 received a report of a serious motor vehicle accident on Old Robin Road, North Side in the vicinity of the “On the Bay Condos” involving a single vehicle.

“A Jeep Wrangler driven by a 30-year-old female resident of East End was travelling on Old Robin Road headed in the direction of Queens Highway when it veered off the Road before negotiating a sharp right bend corner and collided into large trees.

“The driver sustained serious head and back injuries. She was transported to the George Town Hospital where she is still admitted.

“A welfare check on her today by an officer of the RCIPS revealed that she is stable and responding, but she remains in critical condition.

“The matter is under investigation by officers of the Bodden Town Police Station.”