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.
“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 his elbow into my hip flexor if it’s really, really sore. But it’s not the same as a physio doing it.
"Also, in lockdown, I can’t stop eating. When I’m bored, I eat, so I’ve possibly put a little bit of weight on, which means my leg isn’t fitting as well as it could do, it’s not as comfortable as it could be.
“Some days, I’ve had to not wear it, which puts me in a bad mood. Dino is good, he knows when to leave me alone if I’m in a bad mood or when to cheer me up.
“I get moody, but only when I’m in pain. Then all my thoughts turn negative. But I’ve learned to deal with them and I’m still learning.”
Beautician Vicky isn’t able to see clients due to lockdown, so she has kept herself busy by training for her return to work, having jobs done on the house and garden and helping Dino with his family business, importing and selling pizza ovens from Italy.
She said: “I do my own nails, so they’ve been done more than they should have been. And I’ve also been practising eyelashes.
“I’m doing lots of little projects around the house – things we didn’t have time to do before.”
And after overcoming her most difficult battle, Vicky is finally able to look forward to the next five years of her life.
She adds: “I hope to be happily married with a family, to be even more confident with my prosthetic leg and to help Dino grow his business to make it even more successful.”
