A woman has spoken for the first time of her “near-death experience” when a ferry ploughed into a motorboat being driven by her husband.

Joan Wormald, of Skipton, is suing Disney after she spent eight days in intensive care in hospital in Orlando, in the US, following a complex and dangerous operation in the wake of the crash.

She had suffered a fractured vertebra and ribs and a collapsed lung, but more seriously her aorta – the body’s main artery – had twisted and ruptured. She needed to undergo state-of-the-art ‘stent’ surgery to strengthen her aorta. Mrs Wormald, 63, will need annual check-ups for the rest of her life.

The operation was carried out at Orlando Medical Centre where she was rushed after the accident in Downtown Disney, part of the Disney entertainment complex.

The ferry collided with the small two-seater craft hired from Disney as her husband Michael, 61, who was in the driving seat, waited until the craft pulled out into the main corridor of the man-made waterway.

Mr Wormald watched in horror as the ferry crushed the side of the boat, pushing it under water and dragging Mrs Wormald partly out of the craft.

He said: “We saw the ferry pulling out having picked up passengers and he was going quite fast. I thought he was pulling out in reverse to then go forward and I would then follow him.

“I was stopped in the middle waiting for him to stop, but he kept coming on at pace. I suddenly realised he was not going to stop and he was coming straight on. I started the boat up and tried to pull over to the right but didn’t make it, and the ferry hit us on the side where Joan was sitting. The next thing Joan is ripped out of the seat and is over the back of the boat. I thought she was dead. It was horrific.”

Mrs Wormald is suing Disney for negligence after the entertainment giant claimed her husband was driving recklessly. “We tried to speak to Disney, but they refused because it was against company policy. We want a hearing. We want the truth to come out. It was not my fault,” said Mr Wormald

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