Life-threatening hiking accident leaves British woman in Pierce County stranded
A British woman working as a summer camp counselor near Gig Harbor suffered a life-threatening fall last month.
Charlotte Hollins was working as a camp leader at YMCA Camp Seymour this summer and was hiking on her day off on the Fourth of July when the accident happened, Hillary Brotherton, the mother of one of Hollins’ coworkers, told The News Tribune in an email on Aug. 2.
After multiple surgeries and time in the Intensive Care Unit after the accident, Hollins is now stable and receiving treatment at a local hospital, Brotherton said.
Despite being in stable condition, Hollins has a broken spine, foot fractures and internal bleeding, Brotherton said in an email to The News Tribune on Aug. 6. Hollins’ British insurance company won’t cover the cost for her treatment in the United States, Brotherton said.
Hollins’ older sister, Gemma Gagon, created a GoFundMe page on Aug. 2 to raise funds for her medical transportation back to Wales. The trip will cost more than $60,000, according to the GoFundMe post.
“It breaks our hearts that we can’t be there to help,” her sister said in the post.
All proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward Hollins’ medical transportation, the post said.
“She urgently needs to come home for her to access specialist care via the NHS (National Health Service) and continue her recovery with family by her side,” her sister said in the GoFundMe post.
The GoFundMe page has raised over $33,000 in a week.
