This article contains graphic images of the injuries sustained by Charlene
A beautician who nearly lost her arm after a horror crash with a lorry on an Indonesian island has spoken about her terrifying ordeal.
Charlene Morrissey bled out for several hours after her arm was crushed in the wheel of a truck after falling from a scooter in Sidemen, Bali, on July 21.
More than £100,000 was crowdfunded for Charlene’s treatment in three days after Bali doctors said they wouldn’t carry out vital surgery to her arm until she had settled her medical bill.
The 33-year-old, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, told STV News: “It’s a miracle I am alive.
“When I have really dark moments, it’s hard to bring yourself out of that. I ask ‘what does my life look like going forward, how do I manage this?’
“It still hasn’t set in that this is now my arm and that I came through that. But I keep thinking how incredibly lucky I am.
“It has changed my life.”
Charlene flew out to Bali to start a new chapter in January. She settled into her new home for a few months before meeting her partner, Kenny Wood.
But her “dream turned into a nightmare” after a freak accident while heading on a camping trip left her with life-changing injuries and an uncertain future.
Go Fund MeSpeaking from her home in Airdrie with Kenny by her side, Charlene says she is still coming to terms with the harrowing experience.
“I was slowing down as I came down a steep hill. I put my feet down to stabilise and my bike wobbled.
“I put my right arm out and it went through the gap at the bottom of the lorry, near the wheel.
“It crushed my hand completely. I pulled my arm out and all of my skin and fat came off. It took everything down to the bone.
“I lay at the side of the road for 40 minutes screaming.”
After Kenny raced to her aid, Charlene said they began scrambling in an adrenaline-fuelled rush to save her arm.
“My fingers were all in different positions, so I was trying to put them back in place. I was holding my skin up, tying it with string from a camping bag.
“I was telling Kenny to let me die. But there was this fight in me saying ‘I’m staying alive.’ I was bleeding out for six hours. How I held on that long, I’ll never know.”
STV NewsShe added: “I didn’t know pain like that existed. That’s something that will never leave me. I don’t even know if I’ll ever have the words to describe it.”
Charlene was whisked away by ambulance to a local hospital with her arm wrapped in muslin cloth. The doctors were unable to treat her there and she was later sent to the international BIMC hospital.
After money was raised to continue treatment, she underwent multiple blood transfusions and skin grafts, along with cardiovascular and orthopaedic surgery.
Her mum and sister then flew out to her bedside at the hospital in Bali.
Charlene said her insurance company declined to pay out the fee due to two prior claims, leaving the family in a frantic dash to secure funding.
Though she is thankful to those who donated, she believes she may have been able to keep the skin on her arm if the surgery had been carried out sooner.
“If the surgery had been done on the same night, it might have saved the skin and fat. But in three days it had died completely.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t get physiotherapy in Bali, which would have helped straighten out my hand. It was wrongly positioned for two weeks.
“But I’m so grateful for the love and care from people reaching out to me. It’s humbled me so much.
“It still blows my mind completely. Without it, my arm probably would have been amputated and I imagine infection would have set in.
“I have scars everywhere and hundreds of stitches. My bones have been completely shattered from the hand down. It’s not pretty.
“People tell me in a year’s time it will mature and look better. But I think I’ll always need to get surgery to correct this, somehow.”
STV NewsCharlene told STV News she was on a range of high-strength painkillers, including ketamine and fentanyl, which left her in a state of confusion.
She spent two weeks being drip-fed water through a syringe and her weight dropped to six-and-a-half stone.
“I woke up four days later in hospital and I was convinced my arm wasn’t there. I wasn’t aware what was going on, or that my family were there with me,” she said.
“I was crying and having breakdowns. I couldn’t eat on the medication and could feel my body shutting down. I was getting blood tests all the time, being poked and prodded with instruments.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to move my hand again. That fear everyday really grinds you down. I’m trying to practice what I preach. Being in a fear state can be bad on the body.
“Kenny had to contact them as he didn’t know if I was going to make it out alive.
“It broke my heart thinking how they must have felt not knowing if I was going to make it through, or whether I’d have my arm taken off. I can’t imagine getting that call. My dad couldn’t look at the photos.”
Charlene was flown to Glasgow Royal Infirmary with the help of a medical liaison team.
STV News“Staff were confused about the medication I was on. Diabetes medication, different antibiotics, fentanyl and tramadol. It was a shock to my body,” she said.
“I was being weaned off tramadol but having withdrawals and almost collapsing with symptoms, but I said to the hospital I wanted to come off them.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s extremely painful and I’ll take paracetamol to help ease. But it’s a nerve pressure that never leaves.
“I am trying mentally to get over the pain, which I believe I can do. I want to naturally detox and be able to get back to the energetic Charlene that I was.”
Eight weeks on, Charlene is now undergoing intensive physiotherapy and performs exercises every hour to help regain strength in her hand, though the pain often drives her to tears.
She still experiences PTSD symptoms – particularly in hospital settings – and admits she struggles to accept that her life might look different in the future.
STV News“I feel alone, even now. When you have an accident like this, you still feel alone, in your own body and mind.
“The work I did, the courage to sell my business and leave the country to all of a sudden, ‘I can’t do these things on my own but you need to be strong.
“I think about things like, how will I deliver a baby or brush my hair? I’ve always been very independent and always challenged myself. So, to see people go out the way for me is hard to take.
“Those moments I’m doing physiotherapy I’m crying and it takes so much energy – that’s when the bad thoughts come through.
“But I’m trying to overcome these hurdles every day and celebrate them. I had to learn to walk again. I need to learn to move my arm again. I still can’t sleep properly.
“I’ve been offered sleeping and anxiety pills but I don’t want to numb anything out. I want to face absolutely everything, every day the good and the bad.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to move my hand again. That fear everyday really grinds you down.
“But I’m trying to accept the new normal. I know I’ll get through it.”
Web developer Kenny, 33, says he is still haunted by panic attacks and flashbacks of Charlene’s accident.
STV News“I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what I saw. Her whole arm was exposed, I could see muscle and bone. Her hand didn’t look like a hand anymore. There was blood everywhere.
“It’s a powerless feeling seeing someone you love in so much pain. It’s not something I think will ever leave me.
“It helps Charlene to talk through the accident together and try to understand it as she was in such a state of shock. But I find it really difficult to relive those memories. They keep me up at night.”
Kenny said he was overwhelmed by the support shown by the “beautiful hearts” who donated to Charlene’s medical costs.
He said without the surgery, she would have been left at “high risk of infection” and facing amputation.
“The support has been incredible. It was absolutely critical to her survival.
“It was such a huge weight lifted after the panic of how we will get the money. It was a display of human kindness I don’t think I’ll see again.”
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