Bali scooter crash with lorry was 'like a horror movie'

A North Lanarkshire woman who nearly died in a freak accident in Bali has returned to the Indonesian island just seven months after the crash.

Charlene Morrissey, from Airdrie, was on her way to a camping trip in a remote area near Mount Agung in July when her scooter collided with an HGV.

The 34-year-old's arm got trapped inside the truck wheel and was "completely crushed".

"I was lying by the side of the road with a severed artery bleeding to death," she told BBC Scotland News.

Warning: This story contains graphic injury details and pictures

Charlene said she had made the "quick decision" to move to the south east Asian island to search for a better life in December 2023.

She sold all of her belongings and boarded a flight on a one-way ticket the following month.

"I just wanted to go out and see the world and find the happiness I was searching for," she told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme.

But in July, Charlene and her then partner were travelling through a remote village with plans to climb Mount Agung - the highest mountain on the island.

"I was on a scooter and a truck came a little too close," she said. "As I slowed down, the bike wobbled and the truck hit me.

"My full right arm got stuck inside of the truck wheel and was completely crushed.

"As I pulled out, that's when all of the skin and the fat and the fingers came off."

Her partner and a couple of locals stopped to help - but she said there was "nothing they could do".

"The accident was so severe, it was like a horror movie," said Charlene.

"Skin, muscles, tissue and blood were all over the ground.

"They called an ambulance but it took about an hour-and-a-half for it to come and the doctors said I should've bled out in five minutes."

She said one hospital refused to take her because the injury was so severe, and staff tried to move her to the main hospital in the area instead.

"There was no medication, there was nothing they could do," she said. "It was just a horrific freak accident and I was bleeding out for six hours.

"I lost half my blood supply and I should have died. But then we managed to get to the main hospital where they carried out the first surgery and saved my life."

She added: "I don't know if I'll ever be able to explain the pain I was in.

"Usually with these traumatic accidents, they say you block it out.

"But with me, I was so aware I was actually trying to tie my skin back on with string from the camping bag."

Fortunately, doctors were able to put her hand back together using pins.

But there was a gap until her next surgery due to problems with her health insurance.

The delay meant doctors had to take skin from her thigh to help reconstruct more parts of her arm. In total, she had four surgeries in just under two weeks.

Charlene said she was on the "highest levels" of fentanyl, tramadol, ketamine and took between 20 and 30 pills every day in her recovery.

"I was still screaming in pain every day," she added. "I felt the pain. And I felt all of that blood leave my body."

She said the medical staff discussed whether to amputate her arm or fingers before deciding she should return to the UK due to the rising medical bills.

But Charlene said when she returned to the UK, she was only in hospital for a week before she was sent home with physiotherapy instructions.

She was told it was likely her arm would become contracted and disabled, however she has managed to retain some feeling and mobility.

"I have no feeling in most of my fingers and I'm in pain all day," she said.

"I can pick up some things with a thumb and finger but I can't use a fork and knife, I can't carry things on that arm and it's a struggle to do small things like brush my hair.

"I was getting physio once a week at the NHS but it wasn't working out. I need extensive physio and care and I also need to somehow get a scan that tells me what the damage is so we know what needs done."

Charlene said coming to terms with the trauma had been "really tough".

But she added: "Now I can be grateful that I'm alive when the reality is that I should've died or lost the arm.

"I just keep hope and faith that there's a surgeon in the future that can correct the hand and give me back more mobility and less pain."

She now works as an empowerment coach and recently made the decision to return to Bali after struggling with life in the UK.

"I was building a life in Bali and I had a community," she said.

"The UK is very cold and I've been told I'm at risk for bone issues and it's not something I want to take the chance on. Just the cold alone was extremely painful."

She said her family supported her decision and she arrived back on the island on Friday.

"Interestingly enough, my accommodation faces right onto where the accident happened," she said. "So I believe I'm supposed to be here right now to heal this.

"I believe my purpose in life is to help others and I want to make sure I face everything head on and overcome all of this.

"I just want to continue chasing my dream because death really changes your perspective on life."