Heartbreaking update on OnlyFans model and influencer, age 20, found at the side of the road with broken spine

Ukrainian Maria Kovalchuk was found severely injured at the roadside in Dubai in March, but it’s unclear how she came to be so severely injured and at that location.

She is said to have left a party at a hotel in the United Arab Emirates city with "two men from the modeling business", but friends raised the alarm that she was missing when she failed to board a flight to Thailand days later. It was then that was then discovered at the roadside with severe injurires.

Kovalchuk had reportedly told her friends about her invite hotel gathering on Sunday March 9, but when she did not get on her flight on Tuesday March 11 they realised something was wrong.

A missing persons appeal was filed to the authorities, but Maria's whereabouts were unknown for days. The star was then was found bloodied and bruised on the road in Dubai ten days later on Wednesday March 19. Miraculously, she was still alive. She was rushed to hospital, where she went in to a coma, and she has remained hospitalised ever since.

In May, it was reported that the social media star was said to be “getting better”, but still required medical treatment and was unable to speak. Now, she is said to be awake and speaking - but heartbreakingly she does not know her own family members.

Her mother, Anna, who flew to Dubai from Norway after her daughter’s disappearance and has keeping vigil at her bedside ever since, has since confirmed that Maria is speaking - but does not recognise her relatives. It is thought that she started communicating again for the first time at the end of June.

According to the Ukrainian online news outlet Obozrevatel, she has “serious memory problems” and does not know the faces of her loved ones. In addition, her recollection of the events leading up to her discovery in March is hazy.

In recent months, Maria has undergone numerous life saving operations and though her being able to speak is a breakthrough, she is still not able to sit upright.

Days after Kovalchuk was found, Dubai police confirmed she sustained “serious injuries” after she entered a “restricted construction site alone” and “fell from height”. A source close to Maria since disputed that account and insisted that Russian nationals were responsible for what happened to her.

Authorities in Ukraine have opened a human trafficking case. A “pre-trial investigation” is underway in the country and no further details of the case, which was launched by the main investigation department of the country's national police in Lviv region, have been given. Dubai authorities have not commented on the torture allegations.

Police are working with Maria’s family and the relevant authorities on the case. Her friends and family hope she is able to make a full recovery to be able to explain exactly what happened to her. An investigation remains ongoing. Anna has also told local media she will comment further once the investigation into her daughter’s accident is complete.