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AN 18-YEAR-OLD girl has given her first TV interview after losing her leg in the Alton Towers rollercoaster crash.
Speaking to ITV’s This Morning, Leah Washington says she was at the park with her boyfriend Joe Pugh when they were seated up at the front of The Smiler ride.
“We queued for an hour and a half. They put us up front, me and Joe got to sit up the front and we were quite excited.”
“And then we sat down, put safety bars on, sat for five minutes and then we had to get off because there were technical difficulties. Then we waited for half an hour and got back on.”
She explains that the problems with the ride didn’t unduly worry them because such issues happen regularly at theme parks across the world.
“It set off and it was fine, then we got to the first hill and it got stuck at the top. Me and Joe were like, this isn’t right, we should be getting off. It said over the tannoy that we are experiencing technical difficulties and then it set off without any warning.”
“It were fine, we were going around loops and everything and then we just came around the corner and I saw a cart and I were like ‘Oh God, this is ain’t good’, and we just crashed into it.”
Washington’s left leg was terribly injured in the crash, she says that surgeon later told her that he thought her leg could “come off in his hand, it was that severed”.
She was concious during the four hours after the crash in which they were trapped. She describes the aftermath:
I started to feel pain and I couldn’t feel my toes. So I started to panic and looked down at my leg and all my left leg was pushed up.I just couldn’t fee my toes, I was trying to wiggle them and the sensation just wasn’t there.
She says she wasn’t feeling much pain and remained concious but the aesthetic gas being given to her by paramedics meant she was not fully there. She lost a lot of blood and was given a blood transfusion at the scene.
“I can remember trying to talk to people and asking them if I were alright but I don’t remember much,” she says. “After they gave me gas and air I was out of it.”
Her leg was amputated immediately when she was taken to hospital and she remembers waking up afterwards.
“I can remember waking up and all my family were stood around me. The doctor told me that I woke up crying and screaming ‘look tell me, tell me’. I already had an idea of what happened.”
The teenager also spoke about her recovery saying that she hasn’t really come to terms with it yet.
“It’s hard thinking about what’s ahead, I’ve got lots of physio to go through and learning to walk again.”
You’ll be missed, Iain. :(
Thanks for the stories, you’ll be missed
RIP, Iain. You were bloody fantastic.
Started to re-read his books again since the news of illness. Sad to hear he died. Enjoying Whit all over again.
RIP
RIP
The Algebraist is one of my favourite sci-fi novels of all time.
I hope they make a culture movie!
Me two. Consider phleabus please.
RIP, thanks for the books. You will be remembered.
A brave, talented writer
RIP to a gifted writer.
Fantastic writer. I still have The Crow Road to read. So many great books by him.
RIP
Crow Road is a gem. I wish I could read it for the first time again.
Never read his books as not a si if fan, but as a fellow cancer sufferer, may he rest in peace.
Joan – “Viva forever / I’ll be waiting / Everlasting / Like the sun”
Joan he has as extensive a fiction catalog as he does science fiction. Well worth a read.
I’m finishing his most recent sci-fi right now, having just finished his most recent fiction.
My christmas books will meet be the same
Ronan obviously I’ve missed something, need to investigate, I’m an avid reader!
Joan.. He went under the name Iain M Banks when writing his sci fi novels… That should help.. Make sure to read the wasp factory and crow road… Bloody sublime.
Thanks Dave!
RIP – a great author. I love The Crow Road.
Why does God give people cancer?
Patrick, why indeed. 59 is no age but he achieved more than most and will be sadly missed.
Ah – I see a couple of right-wing religious nuts are out in force. They have no answers of course.
How sad … Read the wasp factory meny moons ago and it was a masterpiece … My English teacher borrowed it and said it was the best fiction he ever read . I think that says it all .. Great writer !
Tom sharpe and Iain banks in one week. Too sad. Dead air is my favourite banks book.
‘The Bridge’, ‘The Player of Games’ and ‘Use of Weapons’.
What a brilliant talent.
So sad, I loved the Wasp Factory. RIP
Never read any of his sci-fi but my personal favourite Complicity was a great and underrated book of his. A very talented storyteller. He leaves a valuable legacy to future generations who appreciate good writing.
Very sorry to hear this,huge fan, rest in peace Iain……
It’s a toss up who was the greatest SF writer, Banks or Philip K Dick. All very sudden. Apparently he didn’t suffer towards the end. 59 is very young nowadays. I’m reading The Hydrogen Sonata. Maybe I’ll read it slowly.
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