It was meant to be an idyllic holiday in Thailand to celebrate her 30th birthday.
But Brisbane woman Stacey Liddle is instead holed up in a Phuket hospital and facing the prospect of losing her leg after she became badly injured in a horror scooter accident.
Ms Liddle’s loved ones are desperately trying to raise money to bring her back to Australia amid fears her seriously injured leg will need to be amputated.
And they’re also struggling to deal with the gruesome crash that turned Ms Liddle’s dream birthday trip into a nightmare.
Speaking to news.com.au from Thailand, Ms Liddle’s friend, Sinead Markham, said the pair were riding scooters in Chalong in Phuket when the accident happened.
She said she was riding ahead of Ms Liddle when she heard a horn beeping. She turned around just in time to see a bus collide with her friend.
“I turned back to the front so I didn’t crash and looked in the side mirror and saw Stacey being dragged under the bus and the back wheels of the bus drove over her,” Ms Markham said.
“She wasn’t moving and I went completely blank thinking she was dead.
She finally made a moaning sound and then we both started screaming because we saw how bad her leg was.
It was completely torn apart, her knee and her shin bone was fully exposed ,leaving her calf muscles severely damaged.”
Ms Markham said doctors at Vachira Phuket Hospital said the flesh in Ms Liddle’s injured left leg was “dying” and amputation was possible.
Ms Liddle, whose birthday was on Monday, has already received at least 10 blood transfusions and can’t feel sensations below her left knee.
Her friend has stated that she was concerned about the hygiene in the hospital and in fact Ms Liddle has suffered an infection.
Friends and family have started a fund in Australia to raise money to bring back the unfortunate lady for medical treatment. A minimum of 35,000 Australian dollars is required and that is without the medical bills already incurred.
Ms Liddle took out travel insurance but it did not cover these tragic events.
It is another worrying example of someone who does not ride motorcycles at home not thinking twice about doing it in Thailand. The dangers of Thailand’s roads are well-documented and people should think very carefully before taking to main highways on motorcycles.
We wish the lady well and hope she can make a full recovery.
(Source:-www.news.com.au/travel)