A Scots Hollywood stuntman has thanked famous pals – including Russell Crowe – for saving his leg after they helped raise £25k for life-changing surgery.
Charlie ‘Chick’ Allan, 61, has had a specialist procedure to remove two blood clots that formed behind his left knee after he suffered a horror freak fall at home. The Denny-based actor, who starred in films like Gladiator and Robin Hood along with friend, Crowe, plummeted down a 15ft ditch on August 8 whilst doing DIY work on his home gym.
Dad-of-one Charlie was diagnosed with arterial thrombosis – a ticking time bomb that could lead to him losing his leg, or potentially his life if the clot was to move to his heart and lungs.
An overseas procedure not available on the NHS was going to cost an eye-watering £25,000. An online fundraiser was launched to help raise the significant sum in November with Charlie facing a race against the clock to keep his limb.
And the Go Fund Me was backed by A-Listers who donated thousands and used their platform to garner more support, with pal Crowe sending £5,000 towards Charlie’s cause.
The fundraiser also received donations from Outlander star Sam Heughan, and Robert and Terri Irwin, son and daughter-in-law of Australian wildlife expert Steve Irwin.
On December 10, Charlie made the 18-hour journey to Leipzig, Germany where he had the clot removed. Medics battled for three hours to tackle the delicate and complicated procedure.
Now recovering at home with 18-year-old son Bran and wife Chara Gallos-Allan, Charlie had paid an emotional thanks to the industry giants who rushed to his aid.
The stuntman told the Record: “I’m just blown away by the kindness shown to me.
“I’ve worked for 30 years in the industry and made a lot of good friends along the way.
“It wasn’t a given they were going to help, they just did and I’ll forever be grateful to them.
“Their encouragement to others to help me was very nice and very humbling.
“I went to a dark place a couple of times – everything seemed quite bleak. If I lost my leg I would have lost my livelihood.”
Charlie says former co-star Crowe has told him to listen to doctors’ orders and not rush back into his full-throttle career.
“I contacted Russell after my op to thank him,” he added. “He was delighted with the news, but he was straight away telling me to listen to the doctors advice, he knows what I’m like.”
“Sam (Heughan) was also in touch. I’m working on a few things with him soon and he just told me to take it easy, not to rush back.”
Despite that, Charlie is firmly focused on returning to the screen after thinking his career was over.
He said: “I was nearly an unemployed stuntman, it’s the only job I’ve known I don’t know what I would have done.
“It’s amazing how quick a recovery I’ve already made, there will always be small issues in the arteries and I’ll be on anti-clotting medication for another six months. But after that I’ll be raring to go again.”
An update posted by his two friends who started the GoFundMe page reads: “Thanks to generous and timely donations for Charlie’s critical medical procedure, he now has a greatly improved chance to enjoy better health and quality of life than he could have before the surgery.”
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