Alton Towers Smiler victim ‘upset and insulted’ ride could reopen soon

This has ripped Vicky’s life apart.

Asked if she wanted the ride closed for good, she replied: “I’d like it to be, but I know that’s not realistic because it was a big attraction for the company”.

Following a shocking roller coaster crash, Vicky was forced to have her leg amputated above the knee following six rounds of painful surgery.

He has apologised for any distress caused to Ms Balch and other victims left seriously injured, after the carriage they were in hit an empty test vehicle on the tracks, on June 2.

Ms Balch, who has had to take a year out from her University of Derby studies to focus on recovery, said any reopening should at least be delayed as a mark of sensitivity to the crash victims.

He added: “I absolutely stressed that we took responsibility because our safety processes and protocols failed to prevent it”.

She has since had her leg amputated following the horror incident, and is now furious that bosses at the theme park plan to reopen the park.

Vicky Balch says she was told by bosses at the theme park that The Smiler will start running again because they were losing a fortune.

And Vicky said that upon being told the Smiler ride would reopen, she was too emotional to directly respond.

And she described how she felt “upset” and “insulted” at the revelation.

‘This has happened to me on their ride so why would they want to reopen it so quickly?

She added: ‘They weren’t asking our opinion, they were just informing us.

“I do not want it reopened quite yet”. It’s disrespectful’.

Her mother, Karen Balch, has called for the ride to be torn down. “For them to come and talk about lost profits when they’re looking at a 20-year-old girl who’s lost a leg and had her entire life changed forever is appalling”.

Nick Varney and Ian Crabbe, chief executive of Merlin Entertainments and Alton Towers divisional director, visited Vicky, and first told of how the internal investigation had shown the accident was caused by human error.

The owners of Alton Towers since accepted “full responsibility” for those injured in the crash.

Miss Balch’s friend Daniel Thorpe, 27, suffered a broken leg and a punctured lung.

A Health and Safety Executive probe into the incident is still under way, and the company, which has seen more than £750 million wiped from its share value, has issued a £47 million profits warning.

Vicky has won interim compensation from Alton Towers and there should be a substantial payment to come.

“I was also concerned to check that the victims were getting all the support we promised when I saw them immediately after the incident”.

Mr Varney said: “I genuinely thought that the right thing to do was to meet with each of them individually to explain our main findings and to answer their questions directly”.

‘In all our conversations, I expressed my honest apology and acceptance of responsibility for what happened.