EastEnders star leaves hospital

Medcalf poses with boyfriend Sam Grant

EastEnders star Kim Medcalf has left hospital after being treated for serious injuries received in a car crash in France.

Medcalf, 28, left London's King Edward VII Hospital in a wheelchair helped by her boyfriend Sam Grant, who was driving at the time of the accident just under two weeks ago.

I feel much better and I'd like to say thank you to everyone who sent their support

Kim Medcalf

"I'm lucky to be alive," Medcalf told waiting reporters.

Medcalf had to be cut from the wreckage of her car after the accident.

She broke her leg, hand and a breast bone when she and her boyfriend were on their way to Italy from Calais on the first day of their holiday.

"It was horrific, it was awful and I think I'm very lucky to be alive. I think my car saved me in a way.

"It's just a solid car. I saw the photographs afterwards and it shocked me as much as everyone else. I think I'm lucky.

"I had a big lip and eye before and I looked really beautiful," she joked.

Medcalf is helped out of hospital

The actress used crutches to get into a waiting Lexus car after five nights in the central London hospital.

Medcalf said: "I feel much better and I'd like to say thank you to everyone who sent their support. It's made everything a lot easier."

She said she was looking forward to "being home and watching some "good British telly".

She is expected to be off work for a further three weeks as she recuperates.

Medcalf joined EastEnders in January 2002, replacing Daniella Westbrook.

Her character Sam was dragged back to the BBC One soap's Albert Square after being found by her mother working as a topless waitress in Spain.

Sam - formerly known as Sam Butcher when married to her childhood sweetheart Ricky - has a reputation for taking off suddenly, only to reappear out of the blue.

The character has had a couple of controversial storylines involving relationships with men, including a fling with Steve Owen, who was played by Martin Kemp, and a flirtation with the boyfriend of Sharon Watts, played by Letitia Dean.