A second victim of the Alton Towers crash has had her leg amputated, weeks after a teenager who was with her on the ill-fated Smiler ride was forced to undergo the same operation.
Twenty-year-old Vicky Balch, of Lancashire, was one of five people seriously injured when the ride smashed into an empty carriage on June 2. Tragically, despite seven rounds of surgery, medics were unable to save her right leg and it was amputated below the knee yesterday.
Her lawyer Paul Paxton announced the news last night. Ms Balch's fellow ride-goer Leah Washington, 17, lost her left leg above the knee after the crash.
Mr Paxton, head of personal injury at Stewarts Law, said: "Vicky has had a long and incredibly painful fight to retain her leg. Regrettably, her bravery has not been rewarded.
"The step was taken to remove the leg following seven bouts of surgery. Further surgery will be required in the immediate future, which may involve a more acute amputation.
"The family continue to be grateful for all well-wishers, though they do seek privacy during this difficult period of rehabilitation."
Miss Balch, who spent her birthday in hospital, was sitting in the front row with Miss Washington and the younger woman's boyfriend Joe Pugh, 18, who shattered his knee.
Hotel assistant manager Daniel Thorpe, 27, also in the front row, was treated for a collapsed lung and fractured leg.
Miss Balch, who had a four-and-a-half hour wait for rescue, previously told the BBC: "It felt like slow motion. We banged into the car in front. I felt the bars go into my knees; we moved backwards and the car went into us again.
"I passed out. I was awoken by Dan shouting my name. Everyone was screaming and I was in excruciating pain. I looked down and I could see blood all over.
"The bars were in my right knee.,The only thought that was going through my mind for the hours and hours that we were stuck was that we were going to die. If I was going to survive I would never walk again, that was certain.
"I thought it was never going to end. I just wanted to die."
Additional reporting by Press Association
