After losing my leg I didn’t think I would ever be a mum so to be expecting is the best thing ever
IN her darkest days, Alton Towers amputee Vicky Balch feared she might never become a mum due to her devastating injuries.
But today she beams with joy as she reveals she is having a baby. The pregnancy was such a surprise to Vicky, 25, and fiancé Dino Manciocchi, 26, that they did three tests just to make sure.
Vicky, whose horrific accident happened in June 2015, said: “Dino and I are so happy to be expecting. It is just the best news after everything that has happened – I can’t quite believe we are going to have a baby.
“After the accident I lay in my hospital bed devastated that I had lost my leg and that life would never be the same again.
“I would not get to wear the lovely shoes I had at home or go out dancing with my university friends or feel like a woman again. I did say to my mum, ‘No one is going to want me like this.’
“Even having a relationship seemed impossible, let alone having a baby. At times I was in so much pain that just making it through the day was tough enough, let alone thinking of my future and a family.
“I was also worried because of the extent of my injuries that my fertility may be affected and a few months
Even having a relationship felt impossible to me, let alone having a baby VICKY ON THE DARK DAYS
AFTER SHE LOST HER LEG
after the accident I saw a specialist to find out if it would still be possible for me to conceive. Thankfully, I was told that it was.”
The couple, from Preston in Lancashire, got engaged two years ago and were due to be married last week, but have had to postpone their wedding in Italy until next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Vicky says they had started trying for a baby after the wedding was postponed. They had expected it to take some time but just a few months after she came off the pill it happened.
“After my case with Alton Towers was settled last year and we moved into our own home it just felt like the right time,” she said. “After quite a few years of stress, uncertainty and depression I finally felt settled and in the right place to be trying for a baby.
“I always said I’d like three children and I know Dino wanted to have them early as he wants to be able to play football with the children while he’s young.
“I suspected I might be pregnant as I started to feel sick in the mornings. I had bought a couple of pregnancy tests – I wanted them to hand just in case – so I popped into the bathroom at home to do the test.
“I was amazed when it came up as positive – I burst into tears because it was an emotional moment.
“Dino was at work at his pizza oven company Valoriani so I drove to the office and took him to one side and showed him the test.
“He didn’t believe me at first and so we did another test there and then and he was over the moon.”
Dino adds: “I got a bit emotional when Vicky broke the news. I have always wanted to have children earlier so I’m young enough to enjoy them.”
Vicky did another test a few days later just to make sure, and now she is 15 weeks pregnant, with the baby due in early March.
Not only did they break the exciting news to their families, they also wanted to involve their other three “babies” – boisterous brindle French bulldogs Bear and Freddie and little Dax, a dapple dachshund.
Vicky said: “We put bandanas on the dogs that said, ‘My parents are getting me a human’. Our families were surprised but very pleased for us and excited.”
“My mum Karen, who had popped round to see us, said, ‘I was so worried at one point how seriously ill you were. To think you’re going to be a parent is so incredible.’ I just burst into tears – I was so emotional.”
“We told Dino’s dad over dinner and his mum and sister via a picture message of the dogs. For a minute they didn’t get it and then it sunk in and they were overjoyed for us.
“After everything I’ve been through I really do know how precious life is and to feel this little life growing inside me is surreal and exciting.”
Vicky’s life changed for ever the day she lost her leg after being injured in a crash on the Smiler ride at Alton
Towers theme park in Staffordshire. She was one of 16 hurt in June 2015 when their rollercoaster car hit an empty one stranded on the track. Alton Towers was later fined £5million by the Health & Safety Executive.
Last year, after her multi-million pound compensation was settled with the help of her legal team at Stewarts Law, she told how she had finally come off anti-depressants and had found some peace at last.
“My life before the accident seems so far away now,” she said. “I always
I wouldn’t change what happened... it has made me the stronger person I am today VICKY SEES A POSITIVE SIDE – THOUGH SHE WOULD STILL LIKE HER LEG BACK
say I would love to still have my leg but I wouldn’t change what happened because it has made me the stronger person I am today – and that experience will help me in the challenging times.”
Early scans weren’t available due to Covid, so Vicky and Dino decided to have a private one at six weeks. For the 12-week NHS scan Dino was not allowed into the unit. “I was so nervous doing it alone but it was so great to see our baby kicking around,” says Vicky. They had another private scan a few days later so Dino could see their child. They are keeping the sex a surprise for now.
Vicky realises as a disabled mum that she will face more challenges than most.
“I have appointments with my specialist and physio as the pregnancy will put more pressure on my back,” she said. “I will need to have a number of socket changes during pregnancy for my prosthetic leg. I’m not sure how it will be but I am getting prepared.
I am also doing Pilates. I’d like to speak to another through-knee amputee mum to learn how they coped.
“I do think ahead to my baby running around the garden and wonder if I will be able to keep up. But, like I’ve done so far, I will adapt to it. I know it’s uncertain but I know it will be okay.
“I believe I can have a normal birth but
I have a lot of questions around it.” As for the regular problems of pregnancy, she says: “I have had a bit of morning sickness but now in my second trimester I am feeling good –my only craving is for cheese and pickle!”
Vicky will marry Dino next July in Florence and said: “To have our baby with us as we wed will only make it all the more special for us. I have to pinch myself today as it is all beyond my wildest dreams. The thought of my own family to look forward to is just amazing.”