A mum who nearly died in a horror quad bike smash on holiday and only saved thanks to her quick-thinking son, now faces £28,000 in medial bills, as she didn’t have insurance.
Samantha Perry and her son Josh Charles were riding quad bikes in Hurghada, Egypt, during a group tour on Saturday, when she fell and the vehicle landed on top of her. Josh, an army veteran discovered his mum lying unconscious under the vehicle and was forced to use his army training as the pair were allegedly left ‘stranded’.
After realising his 47-year-old mum’s arm was ‘wide open’ and ‘squirting’ blood, Josh used his head scarf to bandage it up before a stranger appeared and helped them to an ambulance. Doctors rushed her in for emergency surgery and discovered the mum-of-one had a fractured eye socket and feared she’d need her arm amputated.
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Samantha was covered in blood
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Image:
Kennedy News and Media)
Samantha and her son Josh
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Image:
Kennedy News and Media)
The 26-year-old has set up a GoFundMe page to help repatriate his mum and cover the soaring medical costs. She is currently in intensive care and Josh is keen to get her home as soon as possible. The son admitted the pair did not get holiday insurance, however he said it often does not cover quad bike accidents anyway.
Josh, who lives in Birkenhead, Merseyside, said: “This was my dream birthday holiday and it’s just a proper tragedy. Honestly if I wasn’t there, no one would’ve done anything and she would’ve died. This was the first time we’d gone quad biking. I don’t know how this happened. I was just flying on the quad. Everything was great until that split second.
“I looked back and she’d just not been on the quad bike and I was thinking ‘what’s going on’. I spun the bike around and everyone just carried on. I flew back to my mum and she was under the quadbike. I had to lift the quad bike off her. She was unconscious. I’ve seen the blood and stuff. I took her helmet off, I probably shouldn’t have done that.
“I could see her arm was wide open from her elbow to her wrist basically. You could see her bone and blood squirting out her arm. She’s got a fractured eye socket as well. Her hand was open as well. I have absolutely no idea what happened. My mum doesn’t even know. She can just remember being on the quad bike having fun then the next thing you know being in hospital. I’m glad I didn’t see it as well because I’d have to see that and then deal with it.
Josh, a hotel porter, said: “If I hadn’t been holding her arm up to stop her bleeding she would’ve died on me. It’s like something out of a film. Just stranded in the desert with my mum bleeding out. It was horrendous. It was a group tour but literally everyone else had left. I was in the army so luckily my medic training kicked in.
Josh holds his mum’s hand in hospital
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Image:
Kennedy News and Media)
The pair had been on holiday in Egypt
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Image:
Kennedy News and Media)
After being rushed to hospital Samantha had emergency surgery and doctors considered amputation. Josh said: “She got operated on on the first night. They were talking about possible amputations, but luckily she didn’t get an amputation. They had to put wires in her arm. She can barely even talk, she can’t move. I’ve been feeding her all morning. She can’t even drink water on her own. She’s expecting a full recovery but she’s not in a good way at all.”
Josh revealed he’s hoping the fundraiser will help to ensure his mum gets home safely and help to cover the high medical costs. “The goal is to get her back. She’s basically a prisoner. She needs to be back home. She shouldn’t be out here in a hospital where no one speaks her language.
“I’m going to fly back on Thursday because I need to start fundraising. My nan’s going to stay out there with her. It’s just all a nightmare to be honest. Even then there is the cost of hotels and stuff. We haven’t got insurance but even if we did it wouldn’t cover the quadbikes because it’s classed as a dangerous sport. I didn’t even know this until it happened. I would never in a million years expect this to happen to my mum.”