Scots Hollywood stuntman faces losing leg after freak accident at home

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Scots Hollywood stuntman has launched a desperate campaign to save his leg - and possibly his life - after a freak 15ft fall at his home spiralled into a critical medical emergency.Charlie “Chick” Allan, 61, is racing against time to raise funds for a potentially life-saving procedure abroad after complete arterial thrombosis in his left knee left NHS surgeons unable to help.The Denny-based actor, best known for his role in Gladiator as the German Leader who held a Roman soldier’s severed head at the start of the film, suffered the injury on August 8, when he fell into a 15-foot ditch while doing DIY work to his home gym.“I landed heavily on my left leg when it folded under me.

It sounded like it tore, and my knee swelled up like a balloon,” Chick said. “I’m not a light fella, so I went down hard. I had to claw my way out by grabbing clumps of grass.

It was very freaky.”Despite initial efforts to manage the injury, Charlie’s condition worsened. Blood clots developed, cutting off circulation to his lower leg.

This meant that he now risked losing his leg or his life if things worsened.After spending three days in Hairmyres Hospital awaiting a vein bypass, he was told it was not possible because of complications from a previous blunt-force trauma injury in his right leg.