Update: School disco planned to bring Charlotte home

5:00pm Tuesday 19th August 2008

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A STRETFORD teenager who was left fighting for her life following a moped accident in Crete has come out of intensive care.

Charlotte Robinson sustained a fractured skull and pelvis after being thrown from the back of a moped on July 25, the day before her 19th birthday. She has now been moved onto a ward and is being looked after by mum Helen.

Her distraught parents, Helen and Andrew, flew out and said Charlotte, due to start an English degree at Preston University, had to have emergency surgery on her skull to reduce the chances of permanent brain damage.

Desperate to bring her back for treatment in the UK, Helen, of Cavendish Road, has been dealt a further blow after learning her daughter’s insurance company refused to pay out because the teenager had been drinking before the accident.

Sister Kim, 23, said: “You need to know exactly what you are covered for when you take out a policy. If you’re not covered make sure you’re really careful and drink responsibly in all situations.

That may have stopped Charlotte getting on the back of the moped or think about putting on a helmet.”

The family needs to raise around £20,000 to bring Charlotte, a former Flixton Girls High School pupil, home in an air ambulance.

Helen said: ”This is any mother's worst nightmare. I really thought I was going to lose her.”

Kim and sister Sarah, 21, have started a fundraising campaign to bring her back. So far they have collected just over £3,000.

Helen said: “Reading the messages posted already has been very comforting for me, at this very dark hour.”

A facebook group called ‘Get Charlotte Robinson Back Home' has been set up to raise awareness of the teen’s plight and Kim and Sarah have organised a school disco at Mambo’s, Flixton Road, at 7pm on August 29. Entry is £3 and school uniform must be worn.

In a posting on the networking site Helen said that if the insurance claim to cover the costs of Charlotte’s care and return should prove successful all monies raised would be used for helping families in a similar predicament with the remainder going to the NHS.