Evidence: Vicky Balch and other victims lost significant amounts of blood - and she had to have her right leg amputated. Judge Michael Chambers QC said the crash on the 18m attraction was a "catastrophic failure and a "needless and avoidable accident in which those who were injured were lucky not to be killed.". Do you know this baby? Now Jeremy Hunt must give us a Budget to boost Britain, Leicester 'explosion': Listen to massive 'sonic' boom that shook homes and rattled windows. No amount will give me my leg back or the life I would have had.. Leah Washington said:Merlin have looked after me and my family so well! He added that there were 'various states of knowledge' of the fault alarm systems on the ride. The footage published for the first time today shows the Smiler stop at the top of a loop before bungling Alton Towers engineers overrode a system warning and sent it headlong into another truck on June 2 last year. Footage of the Smiler rollercoaster seconds after the crash. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Alton Towers crash victim Vicky Balch ties the knot in 'emotional' wedding ceremony - Mirror Online. The students have apologised for causing any offence, Joe Pugh (second from right) and his girlfriend Leah Washington (second from left) have both tweeted about the fancy dress outfits, Leah Washington, whose leg was amputated, tweeted at the same time as her boyfriend Joe Pugh, The students wore homemade rollercoaster seats strapped to their backs, Alton Towers operator Merlin was fined 5m, Harry: I always felt different to rest of family, US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Mbappe breaks PSG goal record in win over Nantes, Walkie Talkie architect Rafael Violy dies aged 78, Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over. As of 1:30 p.m., all . Something went wrong, please try again later. Miss Balch has said she does not see the point in being angry about what happened. He added that he had read all the victim impact statements. I wanted to take her mind away from the case and put it in a nice place wedding prep and marriage. 2023 BBC. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Leah Washington told her 26,000 Instagram followers about the engagement, Joe Pugh, who was 19 when the crash happened, and Leah Washington, then 18, continued dating, Harry: I always felt different to rest of family, US-made cheese can be called 'gruyere' - court, AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Mbappe breaks PSG goal record in win over Nantes, Walkie Talkie architect Rafael Violy dies aged 78, Why Alex Murdaugh was spared the death penalty, Alex Murdaugh's legal troubles are far from over. 'I had no idea he was going to propose and couldn't believe it when he asked me. He . "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. I hope I get it right. They are my everything.'. The Staffordshire theme park owner has already admitted breaching the Health and Safety Act, and was fined 5m in September 2016. Two women who lost legs after a crash on a ride at Alton Towers are suing the park's owners, their lawyers have said. Joe Pugh, from Barnsley in South Yorkshire tweeted: "How awful and disrespectful can people get? The accident happened on Route 7 westbound at Lakeland Drive . Alton Towers owner, Merlin Entertainments, saw its share price plunge when it emerged the Smiler had been involved in a collision. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. An investigation by the Staffordshire theme park in November 2015 found it had been caused by human error. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Leah was on a date with boyfriend Joe Pugh, 18, when the accident happened, The teen's left leg was so badly crushed doctors amputated it below the knee, Those on the ride suffered injuries all over their bodies - here a badly cut finger is stitched up, A bloodied finger is pictured here as victims suffered horrific injuries in the crash, Leah's leg was left badly crushed and doctors were forced to amputate below the knee, Leah was speaking to Channel 5's documentary Where Theres Blame, Theres a Claim, Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd, which owns Alton Towers, reopened the Smiler rollercoaster after several months despite the horrific incident, Brave Leah said: 'I didnt think it would be as hard as it is. Reunited: The Four Victims Of Alton Towers' 'The Smiler' Crash Pictured Victims, many with visible scars, were at Stafford Crown Court for the two-day sentencing hearing and heard how a series of blunders led to the crash. Alton Towers owner pleads guilty over Smiler rollercoaster crash Incredibly it emerged that today staff running ride at Alton Towers had not read the ride's operating manual and then took 17 minutes to dial 999. The pair both feature in a new Channel 5 series, Where Theres Blame Theres A Claim, which examines compensation cases. She received thousands of likes and wrote: "So this happened yesterday I SAID YES. Good luck to all the teenagers involved. None of the rollercoaster's four key engineers 'had the full picture or understanding of conditions on the ride' - and may not have all read the instruction manual. The women are suing Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd for negligence and or breach of statutory duty. And Vicky revealed in November that she had been given a multi-million pound payout for her injuries. A court saw CCTV footage today for the. 'Although I've been through a lot, I wouldn't change what happened because I probably wouldn't have Dino or Vinnie. This is the horrifying moment The Smiler crashed at Alton Towers leaving 16 injured including two young women who later had legs amputated in the worst British rollercoaster crash for. Man Charged 5 Months After Fatal Sterling Crash: Police 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Interim payments have since been paid to cover Leah's medical and physio bills to date, but the full compensation figure is still being assessed. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. He added: 'The fault is with the defendant for not devising a scheme for not guiding the work of the engineers.'. Stock in the FTSE-100 firm dropped 3.46% to 444.3p a share. Two women were transferred to the Royal Stoke University hospital and two men were taken to hospitals in Coventry and Warwickshire. Mr Thorogood said engineers, responding to a fault, were 'without guidance from above', and had not been given a system to follow to safely deal with the problem on the track. An arctic maritime airmass will sweep across the UK from Monday, Harry Potter star supports JK Rowling and wishes people would 'just listen', Evanna Lynch, who is best known for her role as Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter, has defended the author JK Rowling following her controversial comments in 2020, National Lottery results draw LIVE: Winning Lotto numbers on Saturday, March 4, Child Benefit payments to increase from next month - here are the new weekly rates and all the details. People ask if Im happy with it and its difficult to answer. Judge Michael Chambers QC described the accident as a "catastrophic failure" and said it was entirely avoidable. Artificial limbs can cost 80,000 each and need replacing every few years. Disgusting.". The owner of Alton Towers is facing a multimillion-pound fine after it admitted breaking health and safety laws over the rollercoaster crash that seriously injured five passengers. Two people. She captioned apicture of the pair: ''Can't believe my best friend asked me to marry him on Friday. Its all to go on treatment. Leahs blood pressure plunged so low it was unrecordable and she nearly died. The prosecution went on to say that none of the four engineers involved in working on the Smiler 'had the full picture or understanding of conditions on the ride'. I had to think about the help Id need, even at the end of my life. "I still dont think Ive fully come to terms with everything that's happened. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, US pours cold water on Poland's 'untenable' offer to hand over all their MIG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine: Pentagon risks rift within NATO and 'raises serious war concerns for alliance' in the face-off with Putin, US officials fear 'desperate' Putin could use a tactical nuke on a Ukrainian city in effort to win floundering war because he 'cannot afford to lose':Kremlin officials 'privately denounce' despot's 'clusterf**k invasion', Pictured: Much-loved mother, son, 18, and daughter, nine, who were all wiped out by Putin's bombs as they tried to flee city of Irpin during sham 'ceasefire' in photo that sickened the world, 'I am against this war with every fibre of my soul': Top Bolshoi prima ballerina says she is 'ashamed' of Russia as she hits out at Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin's invasion is crumbling: Tanks stuck in the mud and fighters weak in the air A look at how the war has so far unfolded for Russia's 'demoralized' troops, Is this Putin's secret superyacht? The engineers had re-set the ride and overridden a computer system 'block-stop' which they believed had halted the ride in error, sending a full 16-seater rollercoaster car around the track and into the empty carriage. The investigation also identified areas where protocols and the training of employees should be improved. When is Eurovision and how do you get tickets? However due to the complex nature of Vickys case, it was not possible to reach a settlement until now. It faces a multi-million pound fine and potentially millions more in compensation claims from the victims following a Health and Safety Executive prosecution. Read about our approach to external linking. There were 'near gale' wind speeds of 46mph on day of crash - but Smiler should not run at more than 34mph. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. They sent a test car down behind us anyway, which I thought was a bit strange, but I guess thats just procedure for them to do that, he said. They described the aftermath as being like something out of a "horror movie. Email us attips@the-sun.co.ukor call 0207 782 4368, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Vicky had to answer distressing questions such as how many children she hoped to have and how the injury would affect her life as part of the process. Miss Balch, of Leyland, Lancashire, and Miss Washington, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, needed partial leg amputations after the crash. The collision on the two-year-old attraction occurred when one carriage containing 16 visitors collided with an empty one on a low section of the track. Human error caused the Alton Towers rollercoaster crash in June that seriously injured five people, the Staffordshire theme park has said.
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