Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SMILER VICTIM VICKY IS
Nazanin’s bid for freedom delayed Lockdown alters the hunt for love
BRITISH mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe faces a further week’s wait to find out whether she will be freed from prison in Iran.
The mum of five-yearold Gabriella had hoped to hear yesterday if clemency would be granted, after a decision that was due on Wednesday was delayed.
But officials told her she must wait even longer.
Her husband Richard Ratcliffe said they remained “hopeful and waiting”. He said: “She’s a bit deflated, it was a fairly flat call this morning.
“It’s been a few of these
SINGLETONS looking for love are going to be a lot more picky after lockdown.
Three-quarters of those quizzed in a poll say they will spend longer getting to know someone online before meeting them.
And two-thirds said they’ll be more honest about who they are and what they’re looking for.
Dating app Badoo said most first dates will now be done over video.
It says this is because 55 per cent of those looking for love don’t know if it is okay to hug and kiss. Just over half say they are
Mum Nazanin moments where we were hoping it would happen.”
Nazanin, 42, was jailed for five years under false spying charges in April 2016 after visiting her parents in Iran.
She was released temporarily on March 17 to their home after Covid-19 hit Evin prison in Tehran.
Is a snog okay? concerned about where they would go on a date, while four in 10 would now prefer to find a serious partner rather than have a casual fling.
Badoo’s Natasha Briefel said: “Dating behaviours are changing in a good way – such as wanting to spend more time getting to know the other before meeting.”
TUESDAY will be tough for Vicky Balch. It is five years to the day that Alton Towers’ Smiler rollercoaster crashed with devastating effects.
She lost her right leg when the ride crashed into a stationary carriage on the track.
The anniversary inevitably brings back horrific memories – both physical and mental.
But this year Vicky – who is 25 four days after the anniversary – finds herself in a good place.
And today she reveals in the Sunday Mirror how she is free of medication for the first time since that fateful day: June 2, 2015.
Vicky, who suffered depression after having her leg amputated, says: “I no longer take the antidepressants or any pain medication. It feels good to be free of it.
“The tablets helped me when I was in a dark place after my accident, but I feel I’ve moved on.
“I’ve got a lovely new home with my fiancé and our three dogs, we’re getting married and – although I still have my down days – life is good.
“I have PTSD from the accident and I’ve had EMDR (eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) treatment for that, which worked really well. I still have my low moments, but I think that is always going to be the case.
FUTURE
“I’m not sure I’ll ever be completely over it, have complete closure. Maybe when I’m 60-odd!”
Vicky was on the front row of four carriages which hurtled into a stranded test car. Another girl lost a leg and two more of the 16 riders were seriously injured.
A judge described the incident as a “catastrophic failure” and Alton Towers was fined £5million.
Vicky received a multi-million pound payout in November after what she describes as “stressful and depressing” negotiations.
It will allow her to pay for physical therapy, doctors’ bills and new prosthetic legs which can cost upwards of £60,000.
“Once the settlement was reached, I felt a huge weight had been lifted. I can finally get on with the rest of my life and look forward to my future,” she says.
Vicky used some of the money to buy the Preston home she shares with fiancé Dino Manciocchi and to pay for their wedding – meant to have been in Florence, Italy, in September.
It was cancelled because of the coronavirus, but is rebooked for next July. And Vicky can’t wait.
“I want it to feel like a fairytale,” she says. “We’re getting married in a private villa, so there’ll be lots of twinkly lights and I have a big dress. It’s my dream wedding.”
Talking about Tuesday, Vicky admits painful memories flood back at this time of year.
She goes on: “I’ve been thinking about my life before, what I went through and my life now. Just how much it has changed. Every day I wake up and I don’t have my leg, I have to pull on my prosthetic, so I can never forget what happened.
“I’ll never fully move on or be the same person I was before. I still have therapy and I know I’m strong, I’ve learned to cope with what I went through and how it still affects my life, daily.
“I’m thinking about it more this year, maybe because it is a big anniversary, or because of lockdown. Sometimes it does make me sad, but I realise I’m happy where I am now. This year feels a little bit different, because the case is over. I feel more relaxed.
“I normally keep busy on the day, but this year I won’t be able to go anywhere or do anything.
TOUGH
“It’s my birthday four days after, so I hope Dino is planning something and we can have Prosecco in our garden and celebrate.”
Vicky says lockdown has been tough as weekly physio and tissue massages and bi-weekly sports massages have been cancelled.
She says: “It is tough and I have been in more pain as a result.
“I’ve been doing a personal training session every week on Zoom. I do exercises myself and stretch, but it’s not the same.
“Without hands-on physio and massage, I’m getting a lot of the old aches and pains in my back, hips, shoulders and leg.
“It is getting worse without massage. Dino helps, he will put