Woman who lost leg in Alton Towers Smiler crash ignored 'gut feeling' moments before

A woman who lost her leg when she was involved in a horror head-on crash on a ride at Alton Towers has spoken out about a 'gut feeling' she had moments before the disaster.

Leah Washington was on the front row of the popular yellow Smiler ride which crashed directly into an empty carriage in front of it at speed in June 2015.

The highly-publicised incident saw the Staffordshire theme park temporarily closed after the carriages collided at 50mph, causing life-changing injuries to those on board.

The theme park took full responsibility with Merlin Attractions delivering a guilty plea for safety failings and was fined £5m. The ride was later reopened after a major safety overhaul.

Leah, then aged 17 was on a date with now-husband Joe Pugh on the day of the collision and was sat on the front row of the ride's carriage. Sixteen people suffered injuries, however Leah's legs were crushed on impact, leading to the amputation of her left leg above the knee.

There was a major emergency response, with the air ambulance drafted in to fly blood to the site for Leah. Joe meanwhile had his kneecaps shattered and his fingers severed. Thankfully, nobody died in the incident.

The former CEO of Merlin Entertainments, Nick Varney, said the company had 'let people down with devastating consequences' after the Smiler crash. Following the court proceedings a decade ago, Mr Varney said: "From the beginning the company has accepted full responsibility for the terrible accident at Alton Towers and has made sincere and heartfelt apologies to those who were injured.

"In accepting responsibility and liability very early on we have tried to make the healing and compensation process as trouble free as possible for all of those involved.

"It is something we will never forget and it is something we are utterly determined will never be repeated."

"I wish I'd listened to my gut"

The pair have now appeared in a new YouTube video discussing their memories of that fateful day. During their appearance on Tom Talks, they remember the incident 11 years on, as Leah discussed a 'gut feeling' she had when boarding the theme park ride.

They said it was their first 'day date' together as teenagers and that they wanted to do an activity while getting to know one another better. When asked by host Tom if they had a gut feeling about getting on the ride, Leah said the ride had broken down while they were waiting in the queue.

She then said: "I think looking back now, probably. But I think I just thought, I'm nervous to get on the ride. And my brother always told me 'go to the back, always go to the back' when you go to on a roller coaster.

"As we got to the front, we knew we were either going to be on the front or we could've asked to go to the back. And we thought no, we'll just stick to the front.

"So that's another thing I wish I'd have listened to me gut, because it would have been a different story."

Also responding to the moment the carriages crashed, partner Joe explained: "It was described after as a car driving 90mph into a wall."

"We had to learn to walk again"

Represented by Stewarts Solicitors, the pair also spoke out last year about how far they have come together since the incident. They are now happily married and have appeared in multiple media interviews since.

At the time, Leah said: "You’ve always got to find the positive in the negative and just got to grab life, because it’s so precious, and make the most of it.

"I’d been in the bubble of the hospital, then coming home, with my body being completely different to the last time I was there. It meant lots of navigating life in a normal surrounding, not a hospital surrounding. It was quite difficult at the start.

"Looking back now, me and Joe sticking together, we were such a good support for each other. Yes, our injuries were there and everything else around us was going off, but we still had that relationship and friendship and that got us through everything.” Joe meanwhile added: "We had to learn not only how to walk again, but how to build a relationship with each other again.”