British tourist, 26, carries her own severed arm to the ambulance after it is ripped off in dirt buggy crash on Mexico holiday

• Chelsea Vella was on an excursion near Puerto Vallarta when her buggy flipped
• Ms Vella put her hand out to shield her head but the vehicle landed on her arm 
• The prison officer carried her arm to an ambulance and was rushed to hospital
• Ms Vella, 26, underwent emergency surgery and her arm could not be saved 

A British tourist had to carry her own arm to an ambulance after it was severed in a dirt buggy crash in Mexico. 

Chelsea Vella, 26, said she was on an excursion near Puerto Vallarta with a friend on September 18 when they lost control of their vehicle causing it to tip in the wet ground, soaked from the recent hurricane, flipping the buggy.

Ms Vella, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, told The Sun she instinctively put her hand out to shield her head but the buggy landed on her arm, leaving it barely attached. 

Chelsea Vella, 26, said she was on an excursion near Puerto Vallarta with a friend on September 18 when they lost control of their vehicle

Ms Vella, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said she instinctively put her hand out to shield her head but the buggy landed on her arm, leaving it barely attached

‘I remember looking down and my elbow was snapped the other way and my right arm was hanging on by a chunk of skin,’ she said. 

Ms Vella said she could ‘feel herself dying’ on the way to hospital before the ambulance team gave her a shot of something to wake her up. Her friend ripped her t-shirt to tourniquet her arm in a move doctors said likely saved her life. 

‘Once the pain hit me, I just became hysterical,’ Ms Vella said. ‘All I kept thinking was ”I’m going to lose my arm”.’

Surgeons operated on prison officer Ms Vella, and were forced to amputate her right arm after she stopped breathing during the operation. 

Her sister Sabiha set up a GoFundMe page to get Ms Vella ‘the BEST prosthetic arm’ and to help with ‘legal fees’. So far more than £7,000 has been raised.  

Ms Vella said that since arriving back in the UK she is having to learn everything again

Sabiha writes on the page: ‘On the 18th of September whilst on holiday in Mexico, Chelsea and her friend went for a day out on a dirt buggy excursion.

‘Whilst on the excursion, unfortunately, there was a horrific accident which resulted in Chelsea being rushed to the hospital and having to undergo surgery due to the severe injuries on her arm. 

‘At some point during surgery Chelsea had stopped breathing and surgeons had to do everything they could to resuscitate her and unfortunately the only way Chelsea was able to survive was through the amputation of her right arm. 

‘We have put together this fund to try to raise the funds to get Chelsea the BEST prosthetic arm to ensure she has a smoother running future as well as this all funds will also be going towards legal fees and to help Chelsea with everyday life when she comes back home.’ 

Ms Vella said that since arriving back in the UK she is having to learn everything again, as she was right-handed, and feels that people stare at her in public. 

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