A dream holiday to Egypt turned into a nightmare for a Liverpool family after a severe accident left a mum fighting for her life in intensive care. Josh Charles, 26, had taken his mother, Samantha Perry, to Egypt for his birthday celebration last Thursday, following a year of savings to make the trip possible.
Just two days into their holiday, the pair embarked on a quad bike tour in the desert. Tragedy struck when Samantha, aged 47, was involved in a horrific accident that saw her pinned beneath a quad bike.
Josh, from Toxteth, recounted the harrowing moments to the ECHO: “We had only been quad biking for about ten minutes, I was in front of my mum and I was looking back every five to ten seconds to make sure everything was already. Then next thing I knew she was under her quad bike.
“She fell off the bike and it landed on top of her. I spun my quad around and went straight to her and lifted the quad bike off her. Her forearm was all open, you could see the bone, it was squirting out with blood. She’s fractured eye socket too.”
Josh took immediate action to control the bleeding by using his headscarf: “If it wasn’t for me wrapping my head scarf around her arm she would have died on me.”
Despite the traumatic circumstances, he faced the ordeal alone as the rest of the tour group had gone ahead: “Everyone [from the tour group] had disappeared, it was just me and my mum there. Luckily, after about five minutes a guide from another group came past.
“She was bleeding out everywhere. They phoned for an ambulance and she was in the ICU.”
Samantha in hospital after the accident
(Image: Josh Charles)
Josh said t his “whole world” fell apart upon witnessing his mother pinned under a heavy quad bike. He shared: “She is in a bad way, she can’t move, can’t open her eyes.
“I’ve been in the army but nothing compares to seeing that. I just saw my mum nearly dying, imagine your mum being stuck, seeing your mum under a quad bike, squirting out with blood.”
Josh explained that the family, who did not have travel insurance, have been informed they must cover £28,000 in hospital bills and additional costs to bring his mother back to Liverpool.
He said: “It’s been me sorting everything.
“We had saved up all year for my birthday for this holiday, we’ve never done anything like this before then in a second my whole world has just shattered. I just want to get her home.”
To assist with the expenses, Josh has initiated a GoFundMe campaign. Contributions can be made to the fundraiser, here.