‘I can’t believe we’re now planning our wedding after horrific rollercoaster smash’
ENGAGEMENT JOY FOR PAIR WHOSE FIRST DATE ENDED IN ALTON TOWERS TRAGEDY
YORKSHIRE lingerie model Leah Washington was on a first date with Huddersfield University student Joe Pugh when they were badly hurt in a rollercoaster tragedy at Alton Towers theme park.
Leah, 24, who sadly lost her leg in the incident, has now opened up on how her relationship with her now fiance Joe was put under strain in the aftermath of the incident.
Leah said she and Joe “drifted apart” initially as she struggled to come to terms with her life-changing injuries.
The young couple, who suffered life-changing injuries in the rollercoaster horror, announced their engagement via Instagram last month.
Leah woke up to find “most of my left leg missing” while Joe, 25, was left with shattered kneecaps and two broken fingers.
The pair had only been officially dating for a week when the horror smash on The Smiler ride occurred resulting in difficulties in the relationship due to the fact Leah was unable to care for herself.
In an interview with OK! Magazine Leah said: “If you’d told either of us during the weeks that followed our horrific accident at Alton Towers that we’d be planning our wedding now, I don’t think we’d have believed it.”
The newly-engaged pair from Barnsley, who were just 17 and 18 at the time of the incident, were sitting at the front of their roller coaster carriage when it rammed into a stationary car at 50mph in 2015.
Leah had to have her left leg amputated above the knee after it was crushed during the accident.
Recalling the accident as the ‘longest 30 minutes of my life,’ Leah said: “My legs were caught between the safety bar and the ride in front, terrified and in excruciating pain, I was quickly losing sensation in my left leg.”
Leah said she remembers asking Joe for his phone to ring her mum and he replied he couldn’t because his ‘finger is hanging off.’
Joe was placed in the adult trauma unit and had casts on both his legs and arms, his kneecaps recovered and he was keen to return to his social life.
However, Leah’s recovery was much slower, her ‘whole life became about physio, hospital appointments and getting used to her prosthetic leg.’
Joe said: “We drifted furthest away from each other, Leah was upset one night because I went out with friends when we were meant to hang out together. I was still only 19 and didn’t have the emotional maturity to understand how my actions were affecting her.”
Joe, who never regained use of one finger, said he soon realised there was a ‘new normal’ as they had to adapt to the injuries, public attention and the court case.
But despite the initial difficulties the couple have stuck together ever since and are now engaged to be married announcing their engagement with an adorable Instagram post last month.
Joe popped the question to Leah during a trip to Venice.
The couple were among the 16 people hurt in June, 2015, when two carriages collided on the Smiler ride. Five of those involved were seriously injured.
An investigation by the theme park has since found the crash was caused by human error. Alton Towers’ owner, Merlin, admitted being at fault and was fined £5m.
Leah has since gone on to become a social media influencer and model. She was recently named the new face of lingerie brand Pour Moi.