First Christmas with family in Canada for Jerry Collins' daughter

Ayla Collins will have Christmas at her aunt Nora's home in Regina, Saskatchewan. Photo / Supplied

Little Ayla Collins will be surrounded by family - and a new Peppa Pig soft toy - this Christmas.

The 8-month-old orphaned daughter of All Black star Jerry Collins and Alana Madill will spend her first Christmas with her maternal grandparents and her aunts, uncles and cousins in Canada.

Darrell and Ruth Madill have cared for Ayla since Collins and their daughter were killed in a car crash in France on June 5. Ayla, then aged just 10 weeks, survived with critical head injuries. She returned to Canada in July.

Baby Ayla will have Christmas at her aunt Nora's home in the Saskatchewan city of Regina, Darrell Madill said. The Collins family will not be there, but the families plan to one day share Christmas together.

Ayla was getting a Peppa Pig soft toy from Santa and clothes and toys from family, he said.

"The pig, it talks. It's all the rage with my little granddaughters. And she'll be getting clothes and toys. She has quite a bit of stuff because so many people have given her tons of clothes. And the Collins family, when they came over, they brought toys."

Doctors have warned Ayla was likely to have ongoing disabilities as a result of her head trauma, although the full extent would not be known until she was older, but Mr Madill said the youngest of his four grandchildren was improving every day.

"She's recovered from a lot of her injuries. She talks in the baby way and plays with toys. Just normal things. I would say with time we'll know if she will overcome all of her brain trauma, but we're optimistic ... she's very alert. I think she's gonna do fine."

Ayla weighed 11kg at her last doctor's appointment in November and was close to crawling, he said.

"My wife and I, we get down on the floor and help her put her arms and legs in the right position and try to help her get used to the idea of crawling around."

Ayla regularly made the 600km road journey to Regina, Mr Madill said. "We do it once or twice a month but she's a very good traveller. She sits in her car seat and sleeps or she talks to her grandmother. She makes all kinds of baby sounds, she's a very happy, cheerful little girl."