NIKI TAYLOR upgraded to good condition

ATLANTA (AP) _ Supermodel Niki Taylor was upgraded to good condition and moved out of intensive care Thursday, nearly eight weeks after suffering liver damage in a car accident. <br><br>Taylor had been

Thursday, June 21st 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) _ Supermodel Niki Taylor was upgraded to good condition and moved out of intensive care Thursday, nearly eight weeks after suffering liver damage in a car accident.

Taylor had been in critical condition at Grady Memorial Hospital since April 29. Doctors said her injuries from the crash were life-threatening.

She moved into a private room Thursday and Dr. Jeffrey Nicholas said he is ``hopeful that Niki will be able to participate in rehabilitation therapy very soon.''

The mother of twin 6-year-old boys, Taylor lives in Florida and was visiting friends in Atlanta at the time of the accident.

She was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her friend James Renegar, who told police he looked down to answer his cell phone and lost control of the 1993 Nissan Maxima. The car hit a utility pole.

Taylor, 26, has been a model since she was barely 14, appearing on more than 200 magazine covers, in ads for Cover Girl cosmetics and Liz Claiborne fashions and in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue.

Her sister Krissy, also a model, died in 1995 from what doctors called an unusual, undetected heart condition.