A young woman who lost her leg in a horror crash on a rollercoaster has praised her boyfriend who has loyally remained by her side through a traumatic three years.

Leah Washington had only been with Huddersfield University student Joe Pugh for six weeks before disaster struck at Alton Towers.

Both were badly injured when the rollercoaster carriage they were in careered into a stationary train at the Staffordshire theme park in June 2015 .

Two other people were also badly hurt and it needed a major rescue operation to free them from the mangled wreckage.

Alton Towers crash victim Leah Washington at her home

Joe suffered smashed knee caps and has had to learn to walk again but Leah’s injuries were so severe surgeons had no option but to amputate her left leg.

Now Leah from Barnsley has spoken that she feared Joe would not have stayed with her ... but he has and the couple have been pictured on an early Valentine’s night out in Leeds.

Leah, now 20, said: “I honestly think we have a real chance of being together forever. Joe and I both understand what the other one has been through in a way that no-one else can.”

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After learning she’d lost her leg Leah was not sure Joe would want to be with an amputee and feared he would let her down gently by breaking up with her once she’d regained her strength.

She later found out that even her brother had spoken to Joe and told him he didn’t have to stay with Leah if he couldn’t cope.

An investigation into the 2015 accident concluded that the crash was due to human error. An engineer had wrongly restarted the ride while a stationary carriage was on the track in front of it.

Alton Towers crash victim Leah Washington at her home with critical care paramedics Tom Waters (l) and Dr Ben Clark who helped to rescue her.

Alton Towers owner Merlin Attractions were fined £5m for health and safety breaches condemned by Judge Michael Chambers QC as a ‘catastrophic failure’.

Interim payments have covered Leah and Joe’s medical and physio bills to date - but the couple have also submitted a ‘substantial’ compensation claim.

Leah’s £60,000 prosthetic leg - which contains a microprocessor knee - will need replacing every few years, which will amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds over her lifetime.