PULLING on her helmet, Charlene Morrissey fastened her harness and swung her leg over the scooter.
It was July 2024, and having quit her job as a sales and accounts manager, she was on the adventure of a lifetime in Bali – a dream holiday that quickly turned into a living nightmare.
While riding her scooter to a local hiking spot, 34-year-old Charlene from Airdrie, Scotland , collided with a truck – and her arm was sucked into its rear wheel.
She describes seeing her skin and fat scattered across the roadside in the horrific crash , which severed a main artery and required a 14-hour op that doctors feared she would not survive.
She says: “Looking at my arm after the crash, I could see all the skin, fat, muscle and tendons from my forearm had been peeled back, leaving my bones completely exposed.
“I was panicking and howling in agony, sure I was going to die.”
While it might have ended in horror, the start of Charlene’s holiday was idyllic.
In December 2023, she decided to fly to Southeast Asia alone. Using her savings, she had purchased a one-way ticket to the tropical island, with no immediate plans to return.
“I was staying in a private villa in Canggu,” she explains.
“I spent my time making friends, practising yoga and eating delicious, nutritious food.
“I’d also obtained my motorbike driving licence, so I could learn to ride a scooter. And, with a few lessons, I became a confident rider.
“I was happier than I’d ever been.”
After being in Bali for just a few weeks, Charlene met her then-partner, and together they rode all over the island in search of adventure.
She says: “Mount Agung, an active volcano, was on our bucket list and we planned to hike to the summit at sunrise.”
‘Searing pain’
Packing up their hiking and camping gear into rucksacks, the couple set off on separate scooters for the nearly three-hour ride to the base of the volcano.
“We were about halfway there when the sun began to dip in the sky,” she recalls.
“My boyfriend suggested that we set up camp.”
Turning onto a main road in the middle of nowhere, Charlene’s boyfriend went first, before she pulled out.
At that moment, a huge truck carrying metal rods came hurtling alongside her, going in the same direction.
“As the truck roared along, it felt terrifyingly close, so I slowed and put my feet down to steady myself,” she says.
“That’s when the rear of the truck smacked into me.
“Instinctively, I put my right hand up to shield myself. But as the truck sped past, my right arm was sucked straight into the rear wheel arch, knocking me off my bike and dragging me along the ground.
“It all happened so fast and suddenly, a searing pain tore through my arm.
“As blood gushed from the wound, it looked like my arm had been put through a shredder. Chunks of mutilated flesh were splattered on the road.”
I’d lost half my blood supply, and I was sure I didn’t have long left
Charlene Morrissey
Unaware of the accident, the truck driver – who was never identified – didn’t stop, but Charlene’s partner witnessed the horrific collision.
She says: “I lifted my butchered arm and I could see straight through it to my boyfriend, who was rushing towards me.”
He carried Charlene to the side of the road where locals raced over to help, dialling emergency services.
Charlene recalls: “My boyfriend was beside himself, so using a piece of camping string I’d found in my rucksack, I tried to tie my skin and fat back onto my arm – but it was no use.”
‘Didn’t have long left’
The ambulance didn’t arrive for another hour and a half.
“I begged paramedics to not let me die,” Charlene says.
“They placed my arm on a wooden plank and wrapped it in a towel to help keep it straight and stem the bleeding.”
At the hospital, 30 minutes later, doctors offered a grim prognosis, warning that Charlene had severed a main artery in her arm and wouldn’t survive.
An hour and a half later, the couple were advised to go to Bali International Hospital, which was better equipped to help her.
BRITS MISSING OUT ON FREE TRAVEL CARDS
MILLIONS of holidaymakers are missing out on free travel cards that could save them thousands of pounds if they become unwell abroad.
Global Health Insurance Cards (GHIC) let you access state healthcare in the European Economic Area and several other countries, on the same basis as a resident of that country.
The free GHIC cards replaced European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) after Brexit .
But just 4.6million people applied for a card last year, according to exclusive figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request by Compare the Market.
This is 1.1million less than in 2023, when 5.7million cards were issued.
But 86.2million people travelled abroad in 2023 alone, which means millions of people are travelling without a GHIC.
During this time the NHS spent more than £300million on medical treatment abroad for UK citizens with EHICs or GHICs.
In Spain, a trip to A&E can cost around €200 without a GHIC, with extra fees for blood tests, overnight stays and consultations, while a broken bone could cost thousands.
Although the GHIC card provides help with necessary medical care, it does not offer the same medical protection as travel insurance.
You also cannot use a GHIC to pay for private treatment, evacuation such as mountain rescues or repatriation costs if you need to be flown back to the UK.
And some insurers will not pay for a medical claim unless you have a GHIC so it’s important that you register for one now to avoid invalidating your insurance.
“Back in an ambulance, I was transferred without painkillers to the next hospital two hours away,” Charlene says.
“By now, I’d lost half my blood supply, and I was sure I didn’t have long left.
“I asked my boyfriend to tell my family I loved them before I blacked out.”
It was 15 hours later when Charlene woke up in recovery, drifting in and out of sleep as she was heavily medicated.
Waking up three days later, she saw that her mum, Kathleen, 54, and sister, Alana, 32, were by her bedside.
“My mum told me she thought she’d lost me,” Charlene says.
“My boyfriend told me that, as soon as we’d arrived at the hospital, I’d been rushed in for emergency surgery, and he’d called my family, who flew over immediately.”
To save her life, surgeons worked for 14 hours to reattach the flesh, fat, muscle and tendons to Charlene’s arm. They also inserted 10 pins into her hand to hold the bones together.
“Due to the massive blood loss, I’d needed five blood transfusions,” she says.
“It was a miracle I’d survived.”
Over the next week in hospital, Charlene had several more surgeries to remove gravel from her wounds.
Seeing my arm for the first time, it looked like something out of a horror movie
Charlene Morrisey
Sadly, surgeons weren’t able to save her skin and fat, so they did grafts using skin from her left thigh.
After three and a half weeks in intensive care, she managed to take her first steps.
“Seeing my arm for the first time, it looked like something out of a horror movie,” Charlene says.
“The skin was black and dying, and the veins and tendons were raw and still exposed.
“Thankfully, over time, the skin grew over.”
Charlene, who separated from her partner shortly after, returned to the UK in August 2024. There, she spent another week in hospital before she was discharged.
Now, almost a year on and after intense physiotherapy, she’s continued to defy the odds.
She adds: “While I don’t have feeling in most of my fingers and struggle with simple tasks like using cutlery and brushing my hair, I’m back in the gym doing push-ups, pull-ups and headstands.
“I’ve even learnt to write again.”
In February this year, Charlene moved back to Bali, where she works as an empowerment coach, and in July, she’s returning to Mount Agung to finally complete her hike.
“Today I’m sharing my story to empower others to navigate trauma and change their mindset,” she says.
“Although my scars took time to get used to, they’re a reminder of just how strong I am and for that, I’m forever grateful.”
