Alton Towers rollercoaster crash victim: I thought I was going to die
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Version 0 of 1. One of the five people who suffered serious injuries in a rollercoaster crash at Alton Towers has said she thought she was going to die as they waited to be freed. Vicky Balch, 20, said it felt like slow motion as the carriage she and others were in banged into another one, and she realised bars were going into her knees. Speaking to the BBC, she said: “We went backwards and the car went into us again and I passed out. “Everyone was screaming and I was in excruciating pain. I looked down and I could see blood all over.” Balch underwent surgery after sustaining serious leg injuries in the 20mph collision a fortnight ago which left more than a dozen people trapped 25ft above the ground. Related: Kay Burley's Alton Towers interview cleared as petition tops 55,000 Her lawyers said she was still battling to save her leg following the crash on the Smiler ride at the Staffordshire theme park. Another of the most seriously hurt, Leah Washington, 17, had her left leg amputated above the knee, University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS trust said on Monday. The student, from Leyland, Lancashire, had been sitting alongside Washington with Joe Pugh and Daniel Thorpe, who suffered a broken leg and a punctured lung. Chandaben Chauhan, 49, of Wednesbury, West Midlands, was also injured. Balch added: “I passed out. I was awoken by Dan shouting my name. Everyone was screaming and I was in excruciating pain. I looked down and I could see blood all over. The bars were in my right knee ... “The only thought that was going through my mind for the hours and hours that we were stuck was that we were going to die. If I was going to survive I would never walk again, that was certain. “I thought it was never going to end. I just wanted to die.” Merlin Entertainments, which owns Alton Towers, has accepted full responsibility for the crash and said it would provide compensation for all 16 people injured. |