NIKI Taylor's family says model is recovering

ATLANTA (AP) _ Relatives of supermodel Niki Taylor say they are encouraged by her progress following a car accident last month that left her in critical condition. <br><br>``I talked to my sister (Barbara,

Sunday, May 13th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

ATLANTA (AP) _ Relatives of supermodel Niki Taylor say they are encouraged by her progress following a car accident last month that left her in critical condition.

``I talked to my sister (Barbara, Niki's mother) last night and she said Niki's doing great,'' Taylor's aunt, Mary Eaton, told The Atlanta Journal Constitution Saturday.

Taylor remains on a respirator and can't speak, ``but she's able to point to a sign board to communicate with the family,'' the aunt said. ``She told them she wants to go home.''

A spokeswoman for Grady Memorial Hospital said Taylor, 26, remains in critical but stable condition, and may be in intensive care several more weeks.

Taylor sustained liver and other injuries in the April 29 accident in Atlanta. The driver of the car she was riding in lost control when he reached to pick up a cellular telephone.

Taylor, the mother of twin 6-year-old boys, landed on the cover of Seventeen magazine when she was barely 14. She has appeared in ads for Cover Girl cosmetics and Liz Claiborne fashions and has been in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue.

In a 1995 Forbes magazine survey ranking the world's top models, Taylor ranked sixth with estimated 1994 earnings of $2.4 million.