Leah Washington, who lost her leg in 2015 after she was seriously injured in a rollercoaster crash at Alton Towers, has spoken about how she "drifted apart" from her now fiancé Joe Pugh at first as she struggled to cope with her life-changing injuries.
The couple announced their engagement last month and talked about the devastating aftermath following the smash on The Smiler which left Leah, 24, waking up "finding most of my left leg missing" and Joe, 25, with shattered kneecaps and two broken fingers.
Leah described they had only been officially dating for a week when the horror crash happened and the difficulties their relationship faced as she was unable to care for herself.
"If you’d told either of us during the weeks that followed our horrific accident at Alton Towers that we’d be planning our wedding now, I don’t think we’d have believed it," the influencer told OK! Magazine.
The pair, aged just 17 and 18 at the time, were sitting at the front of their roller coaster carriage when it rammed into a stationary car at 50mph.
Recalling the accident as the "longest thirty minutes of my life", she said: "My legs were caught between the safety bar and the ride in front, terrified and in excruciating pain, I was quickly losing sensation in my left leg."
Leah said she had asked Joe for his phone to ring her mum and he had replied he couldn't "because my finger is hanging off".
While Joe was placed in the adult trauma unit and had casts on both his legs and arms, his kneecaps recovered and he was keen to return to his social life, while Leah's "whole life was physio, hospital appointments and getting used to her prosthetic leg".
He said: "We drifted furthest away from each other, Leah was upset one night because I went out with friends when we were meant to hang out together. I was still only 19 and didn’t have the emotional maturity to understand how my actions were affecting her."
Joe, who never regained use of one finger, said he soon realised there was a "new normal" as they had to adapt to the injuries, public attention and court case.
The couple are stronger than ever and announced they were engaged with a sweet Instagram post last month.
Posting a snap of herself alongside Joe, Leah beamed as she showed off her new engagement ring.
"So this happened yesterday… I SAID YES," she revealed.
In another snap, Leah said Joe popped the question during a romantic getaway to Italy - showing off her ring finger against a backdrop of Venice.
Joe and Leah had only been going out for four days when the horror accident happened on The Smiler rollercoaster.
Last year, the happy couple revealed they had bought their first home together after several years together - sharing snaps of their Yorkshire bungalow to their fans online.
Since being involved in the horrifying Alton Towers incident, Leah has embarked on a modelling career - including being named the new face of lingerie brand Pour Moi last year.
