Yahoo News British mum seriously injured after her dune buggy falls down 164ft cliff on Turkish holiday
A British woman was left in a coma and may be permanently disabled after her dune buggy plunged off a cliff in Turkey.
Rebekka Kelly, 30, suffered a broken back, pelvis and permanent nerve damage in the horror crash during a family holiday on 30 August.
Rebekka, who travelled with her ten-year-old son Sonny, was flung off the side of the 164ft (50m) cliff after losing control.
The single mum, from Birkenhead, Merseyside, said she had trouble steering prior to the accident because the buggy was too big for the small roads in Antalya.
TUI said it conducted a full investigation and no faults were found with the equipment.
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Rebekka was rushed to a private hospital in Turkey, where she was treated for over three weeks, had two surgeries on her spine and had to have her lungs drained.
She also fractured six of her vertebrates, fractured her pelvis, had internal bleeding and permanent nerve damage in her lower back.
The support worker is now being treated in a hospital in Liverpool.
Speaking from her hospital bed, Rebekka said: "We started on the trail and started going up cliffs, which was a shock to me given how dangerous it was so soon after driving only on flat ground.
"When I was on high ground my steering wheel wouldn’t turn and so me and Sonny went over the edge of a cliff."
She said she was halfway through her holiday when she booked the £75, two-hour safari buggy tour through a TUI rep.
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Doctors have told Rebekka that she may be permanently disabled and may also develop arthritis.
She will also need around-the-clock care from her family and may have to live with her brother as she can't do simple things such as walking and bending down.
She added: "The extent of my injuries will not be known until I've had X-Rays over here and the specialists have looked at it.”
Rebekka's medical bills totalled around £44,000 and she has said the extent of TUI’s help was to make a small donation to a Go Fund Me page.
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She added her lawyer Anthony Mckeever, of Havard Law, had provided an expert report to TUI which outlined her injuries and what she required for the flight home but the company had “refused to engage at all.”
A TUI spokesperson said: "Our resort team provided immediate support to Ms Kelly after the accident and our reps have been visiting her daily in hospital.
"We can confirm that following the accident, a full investigation of this excursion was conducted, and no faults were found with the equipment.
"We always encourage customers to check that they have adequate valid travel insurance to cover them for their entire holiday.
"Our teams will continue to support Ms Kelly as much as possible and we’ll be providing her with a contribution which can go towards her medical costs."
