Charlie Allan suffered a freak accident while working at his home in Dumfries and Galloway and faced having his leg amputated, until his many pals in the world of TV and film stepped in to help him out

An injured Scottish stuntman has undergone life-changing surgery thanks to £25k from generous donors – including actors Sam Heughan and Russell Crowe.

Charlie Allan, 61, was hurt after suffering a fall whilst building an access platform to his gym at home Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway, and lead to arterial thrombosis in his left leg. After various NHS treatment options were unavailable Charlie’s family began fundraising for an endovascular thrombectomy.

The fundraiser quickly reached its £25,0000 target, garnering high-profile support – including a £5,000 donation from friend and coworker Russell Crowe, who worked with Charlie on films like Gladiator and Robin Hood.

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 underwent a three-hour operation to remove the blood clot from his left leg – with the operating doctor claiming that it was one of the most difficult cases in his 40-year career.

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.

“After three hours in the operating room, the enormous blood clot in his left leg was completely removed. The doctor said that out of his 40-year career, this was one of his most difficult cases.

“He told Charlie that he had such a difficult time removing the blood clot that he almost gave up at one point. He also said that Charlie was very fortunate that he came in when he did because his left foot was dying. A few days’ delay would have resulted in a completely different story. Because of the rapid generosity, Charlie now has an excellent chance for a full recovery.”

Charlie Allan told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme how he got injured after he stepped off the building platform and his leg gave out. “I got some really crazy awful crunches, the type you don’t want to hear when you fall,” he said. “I pushed through and less than a week later I got some severe pain in my leg so I went to A&E.

“One thing led to another and I ended up in Hairmyres up in East Kilbride and discovered I had clotting behind the knee – so it’s shut off the circulation in my lower leg.”

The fundraising campaign received a boost after a donation from Russell Crowe, who then shared the link on X (formerly Twitter), adding: “If you ever saw the first Gladiator, the barbarian leader who tosses the severed head of a Roman emissary back towards the Roman line in a display of defiance, is Charlie Allan. We also worked together on Robin Hood. He is a great bloke and a good friend.”

“Russell is a really warm character, very caring,” Charlie said. “He’s one of the most generous guys I’ve ever met in my life. He’s very observant and does a lot to help people, a lot of things you never hear about.”

“I can’t walk far without pain and I certainly can’t run, and then it’s had a compounding effect on my legs because you get weak after you haven’t moved for so many weeks,” he added. “First thing I want to do is run around with my little boy. He’s 16 months now and it’s quite hard to keep up with him.

“I’m just looking to get back to acting because I’ve got a lot of promise on the horizon, so I just want to get back to work again.”