A mum who nearly died in a horror quad bike smash on holiday but was saved by her son’s army training now faces £28,000 in 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 January 11 before she fell in a ‘split second’ and the vehicle landed on top of her.
The former army veteran discovered his mum lying unconscious under the quadbike and was forced to use his army training as the pair were allegedly left ‘stranded’.
After realising his 47-year-old parent’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 an arm laceration and feared she’ would need an amputation.
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The 26-year-old has set up a GoFundMe page to help repatriate his mum in the UK and cover the soaring medical costs. While it is hoped his mum will make a full recovery she is currently in intensive care and Josh is desperate to get her safely back home.
Samantha Perry in hospital after the quad bike accident -Credit:Kennedy News and Media
The son admitted the pair did not get holiday insurance, but 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. We’d been on the quad bikes for about five, ten minutes. She’d been behind me and I’d been looking back every five to 10 seconds to keep an eye on my mum.
“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 quad bike. 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, she’s in hospital. I’m glad I didn’t see it as well because I’d have to see that and then deal with it.
“I think because the quad was on top of her I think she’d gone over the handlebars. She must’ve hit something. I don’t even want to think about it.”
Samantha Perry moments after the quad bike accident with a head scarf bandaged around her arm -Credit:Kennedy News and Media
Josh, a hotel porter, claims the pair were left ‘stranded’ with two others by the rest of the group and Josh had to use his head scarf to bandage his mum’s arm. Luckily, someone from another group appeared and was able to call a car to drive them to an ambulance.
Josh 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.
“I took my head scarf off and wrapped it above where (her arm) was squirting out. I had to put another one round but even then it didn’t stop the squirting. I had to lift her up off the floor. I was just working with what I had at the time. I sat her up on the bike against the wheel. I tried to give her water and stuff.
“Luckily, someone appeared from another group or something. They turned up and rang for a car. I had to wait five minutes for a car while my mum was bleeding out.”
After being rushed to hospital, Samantha had emergency surgery and doctors considered amputation. She is now being looked after in intensive care but is being faced with mounting medical bills and travel costs.
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 in intensive care for today. 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. Josh said: “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.
“It’s a minimum of £5,000 to even leave the country. I have to pay for repatriation. The bills are coming to £28,000. I don’t even know how I’m going to reach it. That’s the issue. It’s a lot of money. 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.”
Here is the link to Josh’s fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/f/urgent-help-for-mums-recovery-from-severe-holiday-accident