Brit tourist trapped abroad after being swept out to sea by ‘freak’ wave

A young holidaymaker is stuck in a foreign hospital after a freak wave swept her out to sea, causing serious injuries.

Charline Edwards was enjoying a last-minute getaway in Cape Verde when disaster struck, leaving her with a nerve injury to her spine and unable to feel her arms or hands. Her boyfriend Callum Aston revealed it took three hours for her to reach a hospital and the full extent of her injuries won't be known until she's back in the UK.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise the £40,000 needed to fly the 24 year old from Sutton Coldfield home with medical help, Birmingham Live reports.

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Callum shared the terrifying moment Charline was injured: "The water was a little choppy but nothing too serious. The flags were green, telling us it was safe to swim. We were less than waist-deep in the water, Charline was lying on her back floating in the water relaxing. Suddenly a very big wave landed on top of her."

"When I eventually stood up myself from the wave, she was nowhere to be seen. She was about 20 yards down into the water, where it had dragged her back out to sea, when I managed to find her."

With no lifeguards to help, Callum said he had to "swim against the current to drag" his injured girlfriend back to the shore. Lifeguards eventually came, and he told them that she couldn't move anything from her neck down.

However, he claims, the lifeguards were trying to "drag her by her arms and legs up the beach".

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He said: "I was begging for help, asking them to call an ambulance. It took them more than 30 minutes for them to call an ambulance and over two hours for paramedics to arrive on the beach. After the two hours the hotel manager went and got a wheelchair for disabled guests and we had to carry the wheelchair off the beach, so from the minute of the accident, it took over three hours while she was lying in excruciating pain, shouting and calling for help."

He also slammed the hospital care, claiming that he had to lift her in and out of a CT scanner because there were "no staff available to help".

The accident happened last Thursday, three days before they were due to fly home. The couple discovered Charline had suffered a nerve injury in her spine, but will not know the severity until she has an MRI scan in the UK. Her hospital bills have already hit £10,000 with the couple paying more for every day they were stuck on the island. Charline has been told she cannot fly home on a commercial plane as she "cannot sit up or stand on her own".

The only options are a flight with a stretcher or an air ambulance. The lowest quote so far is £38,000. To donate to the GoFundMe, click here.

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