Gladiator star Russell Crowe donates £5,000 to save Scottish friend's leg

A Scottish stuntman, who starred alongside Russell Crowe in the Ridley Scott epic Gladiator, is in need of urgent surgery.

Charlie Allan is hoping to have a leg-saving operation abroad after an accident at home on August 8 caused his left knee to have complete arterial thrombosis – a blood clot that develops in an artery.

The 61-year-old has worked on many small and big screen projects, including throwing a severed head at the feet of a Roman legion in the opening scene of Gladiator and playing a behind-the-scenes role in Outlander.

In the summer, as Charlie was building an access platform to his at-home gym in Castle Douglas, he fell into a 15-foot ditch.

“As I stepped off the platform my left leg buckled underneath me and my right leg went down the ditch, it made awful, terrible sounds,” the actor told STV News.

“I thought I’d gotten away with it but the next day my knee started to swell.”

Charlie has appeared in a number of blockbusters during his 30-year career Charlie Allan

Charlie’s condition continued to worsen, he struggled to push his son’s pram around Drumlanrig Country Park and blood clots cut circulation to his lower leg, causing his foot to turn numb and white.

The actor spent three days in Hairmyres Hospital with the hopes of undergoing a vein bypass. However, the medical team revealed that the operation, which involved grafting a vein from his right leg, couldn’t go ahead due to complications from a previous blunt-force trauma injury to the limb last year.

Charlie, who is the founder of The Clanranald Trust and Duncarron Medieval Village educational facility, says the pain is having an impact on his personal and work life.

“I struggle to walk ten yards,” the stuntman said, “I need to stop periodically until it subsides.

If you ever saw the first Gladiator, the barbarian leader who tosses the severed head of a Roman emissary back towards the Roman line in a display of defiance, is Charlie Allan.
We also worked together on Robin Hood. He is a great bloke & a good friend. https://t.co/Wd2jCJ17H7
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) November 23, 2024

“If my son takes off, I can’t run after him. I was due to be working on a DC comics production this month for three or four months but I had to pull out.”

Following the news that treatment through the NHS wasn’t possible, his wife Chara immediately began searching for alternatives abroad.

The family identified a number of surgeons in the US and Europe who could carry out an endovascular thrombectomy.

The procedure involves the insertion of a catheter into an artery in the groin to restore blood flow to the impacted area.

A GoFundMe has been launched to help cover the £25,000 needed for the treatment.

“After the procedure I should be on my feet in 48 hours – pain free apparently,” Charlie said.

“I’ve been told this operation has a 90% success rate.

Charlie's wife, Chara, began searching for treatments abroad. — Charlie’s wife, Chara, began searching for treatments abroad. Charlie Allan

“There’s a light at the end of the tunnel now.”

During his 30-year on-screen career, Charlie has been credited in many blockbusters, including Thor: The Dark World, Transformers 5, and King Arthur.

The stuntman also trained Chris Pine and hundreds of extras for the battle scenes in Netflix’s Outlaw King. During his time in the industry, Charlie has made a number of lifelong friends, including Academy Award winner Russell Crowe.

The Australian acting legend donated £5,000 to the cause and took to X to show his support.

He wrote: “If you ever saw the first Gladiator, the barbarian leader who tosses the severed head of a Roman emissary back towards the Roman line in a display of defiance, is Charlie Allan.

“We also worked together on Robin Hood. He is a great bloke and a good friend.”

Other famous faces who have donated include Outlander’s Sam Heughan, who gifted £2,000, and Terri Irwin, the wife of crocodile hunter Steve Irwin.

Charlie said: “We’ve fought on many battlefields since Gladiator.

Charlie appeared during the opening scene of Ridley Scott classic Gladiator. Dreamworks Studos/Universal Pictures

“I’ve been in four Ridley Scott movies and three with Russell. We’ve been brilliant friends for a long time now.

“He took me to his farm in Australia and we did four sell-out shows with me playing the bagpipes. I went over to Istanbul for his directorial debut.

“I did tell him not to donate, I just asked him to promote it to his fans who may know me. But he did it anyway because he is a generous man.”

Injuring himself at home never crossed the 61-year-old’s mind because he had spent decades crashing motorbikes, smashing into buildings and falling down ladders.

However, one stunt sticks in his mind more than most.

“When filming Robin Hood, I was charged down by horses on the beach,” the Edinburgh-born actor explained.

“It was a pure buzz.

“There were 150 horses coming towards us and they were trained to have gaps in the middle as they came past. They used a lot of farmers during the shot, who didn’t have stunt experience, to fill in at the back of the pack.

“I got hit by a horse and my boots nearly came off. My spear went one way, my shield went the other and my helmet flew off.

“Everyone asked if I was ok and I just kept asking if we were doing it again. It was such a rush.”

Charlie is already looking forward to playing with his son and getting back to set again next year once he recovers from surgery.

To visit the GoFundMe click here.