FINDING a job in London is a tough ask for even the most able-bodied applicant. But a disabled Shepherd's Bush woman has hit out at employers for not seeing past her disability and giving her a chance to earn a proper wage. GREG Burns met her to hear her heart-rending story.

I HAVE met many inspirational and courageous people working as a journalist over the past four years.

But sitting with Jane Powell in her Willow Vale home left me with a sense of awe and with a tinge of sadness at a woman who has cheated death but is not being allowed to live.

The fact that the 37-year-old is even alive today is testament to her character and mental strength.

It is December 7, 1987 and Jane is a 14-year-old girl full of hopes and dreams and ambitions to become a police officer.

Crossing a zebra crossing in Acton dashed them all in an instant.

Hit by a white van man she was dragged halfway down the road and left with a life-threatening brain injury and countless broken bones.

Her parents could only watch as she lay in a coma at Hammersmith Hospital for three months as doctors continued to tell them she only had hours to live and that she was in the deepest comatose state possible for a human.

Miraculously, she regained consciousness but the swelling in her brain was so severe that she had lost the ability to speak or walk and had lost the use of her right arm.

But this tenacious teenager was not about to give up.

She said: "I still remember being hit by the van to be honest but I don't remember anything about being in a coma. My parents were preparing for the worst because my injuries were so bad.

"My brain had swelled so much it was bursting through my skull and they needed to take bone from my knee cap to put in my arms just so they didn't have to amputate them.

"When I woke up I couldn't speak or do anything really. A woman next to me was deaf so I started learning sign language from her just so I could communicate with people.

"Since then I have been rebuilding my life and learning to talk, walk and to write with my left hand. People said I would be blind and a total 'cabbage' but I have proved them wrong."

Jane spent the next five years in hospital after rebuilding herself and can now walk for short spells at a time with the use of a crutch or frame but was dealt another blow when doctors told her she would never be able to have a child.

But she continued to fly in the face of that medical advice when her son Luke was born by caesarian in 1998.

His father walked out when he found out about the pregnancy so Jane has raised him as a disabled single-mum.

She said: "He is my miracle and is such a great boy. I don't know what I would do without him now. He is so smart and doing so well at school and I thank my lucky stars for him."

Despite all of the trauma and the battles in her life, Jane feels she is facing one of her toughest challenges yet in her bid to find work.

Even with recent college qualifications in business and finance from Ealing, West London and Hammersmith College under her belt, it is proving impossible for her to get the chance she needs.

She said: "Despite my best efforts and taking college courses to improve my chances of building a career, I have found no joy in job hunting.

"This is because the employers I have approached say my speech is slurred and people will think I am drunk. I am desperate for work but I keep being discriminated against.

"I am so fed up so I am speaking out for all disabled people who can't get work and keep getting the door slammed in their faces.

"I might be disabled but it is not on the outside that counts. There are people out there who are able-bodied and happy to sit on their backsides and pick up benefits.

"I don't want to do that. I want to work and provide for my son and it makes me sick that I am not given a chance."

Sadly, Jane's story is probably typical across the country.

The Equality Act 2010 was passed to promote equality in job recruitments and to ban employers asking questions about health and disabilities in applications.

But at the time of its introduction John Knight, director of policy and campaigns at Leonard Cheshire Disability charity, said: "We don't think that the Bill will substantially improve disabled people's chances of getting into work or increasing in their earning power."

It seems he may be being proved right.

One thing is for sure. If an employer spent just five minutes with Jane then they would see she would be a valuable asset.

I hope she gets her chance.