Weekly News Update 20

On Saturday 19^th March the ride reopened to visitors of the park, but as expected, the ride wasn’t full of excited passengers straight away. Many visitors saw it as a day of fear, but others treated it as any other day at a theme park. One visitor told the reporter of this story “I can see why today is an important day, but I think that technical hitches can happen on any ride, on any day, at any park, and if we live our lives in fear then what is the use of going to theme parks that are meant to be fun. Neil Charteris, a 53-year-old maintenance engineer from Cannock, who has friends who have worked at the park, went on with his daughter Laura. He said had “no nerves. The safety issue doesn’t bother me. I’m just glad it’s re-opened, so we can carry on.”

My story this week comes from the Guardian and tells the story of the reopening of the ‘Smiler’ ride at Alton Towers which left 16 people severely injured in June 2015 when the ride crashed. Staff misunderstood a shutdown message and wrongly restarted the ride, an investigation by the park confirmed leaving the 4 passengers on the front These include 21-year-old Vicky Balch, whose leg was amputated after one of the ride’s carriages smashed into another at high speed. She has criticised Alton Towers for putting “money before safety” and called for the ride to remain closed. But the crowds who queued outside the park from 7am had different ideas.

I think this is an important story because millions of people go to theme parks every year, and technical glitches happen but not to this extent. Those passengers that lost their legs may be feeling angry that now this ride that has ruined their lives is up in running giving enjoyment to people rand technical glitches happen but not to this extent. Those passengers that lost their legs may be feeling angry that now this ride that has ruined their lives is up in running giving enjoyment to people every day.

Weekly News Update 19

My story this week comes from the Daily Mail and the story reflects 20 years on from the Dunblane Massacre. One of the 12 survivors Aimee Adam spoke on Good Morning Britain this week for the first time publically since the devastating attack 20 years ago when Thomas Hamilton went on a shooting rampage at Dunblame Primary School. Aimee Adam was shot twice, once in the right buttock and once in the right thigh before her PE teacher Eileen Harrild told her to crawl into the gym cupboard, and it was there that the then 5 year old school girl blacked out. Aimee had surgery to remove the bullet from her thigh but it was then that surgeons found another bullet which had entered near her groin and wedged into the bottom of her back.

Aimee Adam with Susanna Reid



Miss Adam was visibly upset when talking about the attack and presenter Susanna Reid comforted her as she spoke about the terrifying ordeal. When asked by Piers Morgan how she felt about Thomas Hamilton, Aimee replied saying 'I feel bad for him, that his life was so terrible that he had to ruin other people’s lives. I hate him but he’s gone and he can’t ruin anybody else’s life’. She then went on to say ‘I just can’t let something like that beat me because if I did I wouldn’t be the person I am. It sort of made me who I am’.

To this day, this event remains the deadliest firearms atrocity in the UK, as in the space of three minutes, Hamilton shot dead 16 Primary One pupils and their teacher, Gwen Mayor, before turning the gun on himself.

I found this story particularly interesting because it has taken this young woman 20 years to be able to talk about the event that left her paralysed in the right leg from the knee down which has haunted her for her entire life. She has great courage and bravery and the fact she wants to further her career in Mental Health nurse caring shows that she isn’t going to let this devastating event ruin her life or her future.