Ren Harvieu's singing dreams shattered after accident

Rising singer Ren Harvieu feared her career was over before it had even begun when she broke her back last year.

The 21-year-old newcomer has received much critical acclaim for her debut Through The Night, but the album was almost shelved when she suffered a freak accident last May.

Harvieu was told she might not walk again after a friend accidentally landed on her while jumping over a hedge, snapping two vertebrae in her spine.

She recalls, "The first month (of recovery) you're in denial. You're completely numb. So you don't realise why everybody's crying around the bed all the time. You just can't handle it because it's too shocking. And then when it finally hits you, you're flooded by extreme rage. I was just so angry. I was so angry at the music industry as well. I was like, well, I'm in a wheelchair, they're never going to accept me."

The star is now back on her feet with the help of a cane, and reveals she boosted her recovery by visualising herself onstage.

She adds, "There's nothing else to do in hospital. I knew I had something great. If I could recover, I knew I was coming back to something fantastic, so I was very, very determined... I was only 20 and I've been through things that I wouldn't wish on anybody. It's made me think about things a lot differently... I was so scared about people... saying nasty things about me and not liking me. Now I'm like, what will be will be."