TowIE Star Yazmin Oukhellou is speaking out about the crash in her car which killed her co-star Jake McLean.
Oukhellou and McLean had a romantic relationship for 4 years. She was in his presence for a long time while McLean was at the beach in Turkey in July at the time of the crash. After having dinner in the restaurant the couple drove to a friend’s house after which Oukhellou fell asleep inside the car. She awoke to find the car moving off of the rock verge. The accident injured Oukhellou but also killed McLean.
Yazmin Oukhellou talked about the terrible incident in July and in a recent interview in The Sun, she’s shared more details about how she attempted to get her attention McLean while the car was in ruins on the floor.
“I tried to get Jake up but he didn’t seem to be getting up. I tried to sound the horn using my feet, however couldn’t get it to work. It was in the middle of nowhere, therefore, shouting for help was not helpful,” she said.
“I was aware that I needed the courage to leave the car , and somehow , I was able to release my arm by lifting it up with the left side of my hand and then moving my right arm upwards, and then dropping it back down for what seemed like a long time until I snapped it loose.”
“I felt I could feel it in my bones that he’d disappeared.”
“They told me they were going to take the patient to a different hospital, and constantly assured me that they believed he was okay and alive I believe it was that they did not want to cause me further stress.”
Yazmin Oukhellou is currently taking an absence of TOWIE to recuperate mentally and physically from the horrific crash. However, while her physical injuries might be healing, her mental injuries aren’t, because of the devastating character of the incident.
Oukhellou claimed that online trolling has made the situation more difficult. She’s posted several photos with her smiles on Instagram and was greeted by some trolls suggesting that she’d got over the accident in a hurry.
“Experiencing the amount of scrutiny has been incredibly challenging. I’m not lying and saying that these comments don’t bother me, since they are,” she said.
“If I go out for dinner with my friends, people will write on Facebook with the caption: ‘Oh, she’s overcome it quickly. I block them immediately however, they’re the ones I’ll be focusing on throughout the rest of the day, and even beyond. When I read the posts, I am sick.”
She added: “There’s not a day that I don’t think about the crash. If I’m smiling in an image does not mean that I’m happy inside. However, spending time with the people closest to me is a good one or two hours where I am able to escape my daily reality. I realize how lucky I am to be alive and now feel like some people would like me to continue to suffer – and I’m not sure the reason.
“None are aware of the events that are taking place with me. I’m broken with sadness for Jake. It affects me at every second throughout the week. The fact that I have dinner at a restaurant or visit a country abroad to focus on my healing process doesn’t mean that it’s not the same.”