A US tourist left for dead in an attack on the Great Glen Way, near Inverness, has been showing signs of recovery.
Schoolteacher Marty Layman-Mendonca was repeatedly beaten with a metal pipe by Colin Ross, 34, in July. The assault left her in a coma.
The 57-year-old was flown from Inverness back to the US where doctors have detected an improvement.
Jack Fraser, one of her friends in the Black Isle, near Inverness, said she had managed to raise an arm in a wave.
He said: "Friends went to see her and they were quite pleased with her and when they said 'cheerio' Marty waved to them.
"That means she's got control of her arms. She has come a long, long way from almost being clinically dead."
A fund has been set up to help pay for Ms Layman-Mendonca's medical care.
Ross, from Inverness, has still to be sentenced for attempted murder near Abriachan.
Last week, judge Lord Wheatley deferred sentence and adjourned the case to the High Court in Glasgow on 31 October.
The case had previously been deferred to the High Court in Paisley for a social inquiry report.
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