"I remember the day like it was yesterday: 2nd June 2015. Joe and I had only been dating a few months, but we had planned to spend the day together at Alton Towers. We’d met through mutual friends and things had kind of accidentally escalated. The truth was, I wasn’t looking for a relationship. I was due to go to university in the autumn. A relationship would almost certainly complicate things…

But Joe was handsome, kind, and made me feel completely at ease. It was a few days before that we had officially decided we were ‘together’. I was 17. Joe was 18. And so we decided to celebrate in the most fun way we knew how: with a day trip to Alton Towers.

Antonio Petronzio

It was the first time we’d had a day out together, and I wanted it to be special. I can still remember with absolute clarity what I wore: a black jumper, black skinny jeans and ankle boots. Joe picked me up at 9am and, after a two-hour drive, we were there.

It was the beginning of summer, but you’d never have known it from the weather: a dull grey sky with an icy wind that caught the back of my neck. But it didn’t matter. It was enough that we were alone together.

Music boomed from each ride, while groups of raucous students who had broken up for the summer surrounded us. We bought two Cokes, and headed straight for The Smiler.

Smiler, the ride that crashed Getty Images

It was the one ride we’d come for. I’d seen adverts for it on television, and Joe, who had been there before, had said it was his favourite. I looked up at it: 98ft of twisted metal that towered over us. We joined the queue and were told it was an hour-and-a-half wait. There had been a few technical issues with the ride. It had broken down a few times that day and, as a result, the queue stretched back for what seemed like miles. But it didn’t matter. This is what we had come for, and besides, I told myself, rides have technical difficulties all the time. I huddled in close to Joe and waited. By the time we reached the front, a beaming ride assistant told us the test cars that the staff had sent out had all come back safely. Not only that, but as we clambered up, we saw we were lucky enough to be in the first carriage – right at the very front.

The ride set off, the rattle of wheels on metal in time with the beat of my heart. Slowly we crept up the first ascent. I gripped the handlebars and looked at Joe. But as our carriage reached the top, it stopped suddenly. We were at one of the highest points of the ride, teetering over the edge of a 90ft drop. I knew we weren’t meant to stop. I assumed there were more technical issues and they’d had to pause before taking off again. We settled down to wait, and it took 15 minutes before the ride lurched on.

"My legs were trapped between the safety bars and the seat"

Then, just as our car turned the corner, we hurtled down, and I suddenly saw that there was something blocking our path. To my horror, I realised the test car from earlier was still on the tracks. We were going to crash straight into it.

I started yelling, “NO! NO! NO!” and then… there was nothing. Only blackness. The next thing I remember was the screaming. And the blood. There was so much of it. I was vaguely aware of people below taking pictures and videos. And then I came to the horrible realisation of something else: that we were stuck.

The metal of the safety bars had folded into our bodies. My legs were trapped between the safety bars and the seat of the car we’d crashed into. I couldn’t breathe. There is nothing that prepares you for the sensation of being trapped, completely helpless to the carnage around you. And what’s more, as time ticked on, I realised something else: that the sensation in my toes was starting to fade.

In the 30 minutes we were stuck there, the feeling in my left leg started to disappear, too, and I could feel the bone in my knee poking through. I looked at the back of the car and saw a pale square the size of a postage stamp. With horror, I realised it was human flesh... most probably mine.

Emergency services quickly arrived at the scene Getty Images

I alternated between an eerie calm, and total hysteria. All I wanted was to hold Joe’s hand, but when I looked down at it, I could see there was no way I could: his little finger was hanging off his left hand, and the middle finger on his other was broken.

Eventually, I was airlifted to hospital, while Joe was taken in an ambulance. In the air, I slipped in and out of consciousness. Oddly, I didn’t think about the fact that I could no longer feel my feet or my entire left leg – my only thought was ‘Where’s Joe?’

I remember entering the hospital, and the flurry of nurses and doctors, but nothing more. By the time I woke up, it was the following evening, and my entire family were bent over my bed. Each of them wore sunglasses, despite the fact it was early evening. But even this simple gesture could not disguise the fact: they had all been crying. Probably for some time. That’s when I knew it was serious.

"Where my left leg should have been was empty space"

Something else was different, too: I was surrounded by beeping machinery that all appeared to be connected to me. I looked down at my body and there, where my left leg should have been, was empty space.

“What’s happened to my leg?!” I screamed.

The doctor came over in a white coat. He had kind, sad eyes and spoke to me slowly.

“I’m so sorry. I had to amputate your left leg. It was seriously injured. It was the only way I could save you.”

I cried and cried. I produced sounds I didn’t even know a human being could make. My mum rushed towards me and held me while I shook. I had never thought much about my left leg. Literally nothing. Ever. Now it was the only thing I wanted in the world. That, and Joe.

Joe came down to see me in intensive care the next day. It was not the amazing, warm reunion you would expect of two people who had gone through what we had; it was cold and stilted. We had no words to communicate. Instead, his parents had to make conversation to fill the silence. The truth was I had no words to give Joe, because I wasn’t sure he would want to be with me now. I was aware it was still very early days for us, and it would have been so easy for him to walk away. After all, what teenage boy would want to be with an amputee? He didn’t touch me that first time, but said under his breath that he would come to see me in a few days. I wasn’t so sure.

Antonio Petronzio

And yet, true to his word, he came to see me a few days later. He was in a wheelchair with his legs and arms in casts, and I was all wired up. We couldn’t touch or hug, and there was still a distance between us, but conversation flowed better. I wasn’t ready to talk about our relationship – the possibility of him not wanting to be with me any more would have been too much. Instead, we shared our versions of the crash and filled in the blanks.

Over the next few weeks, we had so much to deal with that there wasn’t time to think about ‘us’. Joe had numerous surgeries and I was constantly in physio. There were more serious things to think about as we focused on getting ourselves better. But it was always there in the back of my mind. Will he want me? We tried to be normal, watching TV together in the hospital room, but the truth was, there was nothing normal about our situation.

"It's astonishing how quickly your identity can be smashed and reconfigured"

And then, after a few weeks, just like that, we finally discussed our relationship. I knew I wanted things to continue, I just wasn’t sure he felt the same. But he turned to me and said there was no way he was going to let this get between us. Joe is a kind guy, but while I wanted to believe him, there was, deep down, a part of me that couldn’t quite manage to. He was just being responsible. He wanted to let me down gently. He would give it a few months and then realise he didn’t want to be with an amputee, because, at that moment in time, that was how I was beginning to see myself – as an amputee. Someone not worthy of a relationship. It is astonishing how quickly your identity can be smashed and reconfigured.

It was only a few days later that I found out my brother had spoken with Joe, alone. He had told him, “Please don’t feel you have to stay with her. If you can’t deal with it, it’s OK; Leah has us.” I don’t know exactly what Joe said – we’ve never talked about it since – but he told my brother he wanted to stay with me.

And that was it. We were back – though, of course, under different circumstances. We took our time to get to know each other, slowly, all over again. Before, we’d been in the honeymoon phase, just showing each other our best sides. But after the accident, there was no pretence. We had no choice but to be completely honest and share everything.

Antonio Petronzio

Looking back, I think the crash brought us much closer. We are part of something that will forever knit us together. Of course we both wish it had never happened, but we’ve refused to let it ruin our lives, and we’re determined to carry on. Joe graduated from university this year, and while I wasn’t able to take my place, I have been working as a teaching assistant.

Joe and I both understand what the other one has been through in a way that no one else can. My injuries are more serious than his, but he’s often in a lot of pain, so we don’t really see it that way, and he’s very considerate when I’m too tired to go out, or if I get insecure about my leg. He always tells me I’m beautiful and that the way I look doesn’t make a difference to him. I don’t always believe him, but it’s still good to hear.

It’s funny really. If this accident hadn’t happened, I don’t know if we would have lasted. University would have definitely put a strain on things, and I wonder if we would have fizzled out. I honestly think we have a real chance of being together forever. Obviously we still bicker, but after everything we’ve been through, an argument over what to watch on TV just doesn’t compare."

Joe’s side of the story

"When I saw Leah in hospital for the first time, it was so surreal. Everything was too much, and I had a hard time processing it. We were such a new couple, and then this. It all happened so quickly.

Her brother told me really calmly that I didn’t have to stay with Leah, and then started crying. I did as well, and we hugged. But I would never do that.

Those weeks after the accident were very hard. We weren’t mobile, so it was really difficult to be normal. We were all over the news, people were talking to us on social media, and we were in this relationship, but couldn’t do anything without our parents.

Antonio Petronzio

Slowly, we got through it, and now it’s made us strong. We’ve been through something most couples never have to deal with, let alone at such a young age. Now, if there are any little problems, we look back and put it in perspective.

I always said from the beginning that I wouldn’t see Leah differently, and her leg doesn’t change anything. She’s still the same to me. I know she gets insecure, and that’s understandable, but she’s definitely getting better.

She recently posted a photo of herself on Instagram in a bikini, so you could see her prosthetic, and I was really proud of her. I always knew she was amazing, but the crash has shown me that she’s stronger than I ever imagined. I feel lucky to be with her."