Survivors mark Paddington crash anniversary

A businesswoman whose badly burned face came to symbolise the Paddington rail crash told today of her terror as she took a train journey for the first time since the disaster.

Pam Warren, 42, made an emotional trip on a Great Western express on the same route as the one that collided with a Thames service at Ladbroke Grove 10 years ago today, claiming 31 lives and injuring more than 400.

She spent three weeks unconscious in intensive care after the crash, endured 22 operations on her face and hands and had to wear a protective mask 23 hours a day for 18 months.

She then suffered deep psychological trauma, leading to heavy drinking, a suicide attempt, admission to a psychiatric ward and the breakdown of her marriage. After years of therapy she agreed to recreate her journey from Slough to Paddington for a TV documentary to mark the anniversary.

She said: "My heart was racing and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get on the train. I haven't stepped on a train since the day of the crash but I don't like the thought of fear ruling me. I felt elated when I got off because it was important for me to complete the journey."

Ms Warren, who founded the Paddington Survivors' Group, was forced to give up the business she had set up with her ex-husband as she recovered.

But she has now started an events management business and volunteers counselling burns victims.

At her lowest point she said she wished she had died in the crash, but she said today: "I've realised that life is too short to waste time worrying about what people think of the way I look and I want to pack as much into my life as I can." Today survivors joined those bereaved by the accident at the memorial near the crash site for a service of remembrance. Catherine Wood, 47, who lost her husband Simon, said: "It never goes away. They say time heals, but it doesn't."

Lady In The Mask 10 Years On: tonight, 8pm ITV1.