Tunisia Shootings Victim Leaves Birmingham's QE Hospital

3 September 2015, 11:23 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A woman who was flown to Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital fighting for her life after the Tunisia beach attack in which her husband was killed has said she can only ``vaguely recall'' the massacre.

Allison Heathcote, from Felixstowe, Suffolk, was celebrating her 30th anniversary with Philip in Sousse when they were caught up in the mass shooting in June.

The 48-year-old, who was shot five times, was airlifted to RAF Brize Norton and treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where she was put in an induced coma.

But now she is continuing her rehabilitation closer to home after being transferred to the Ipswich Hospital.

She said: ``It's the start of a long journey and I just want to concentrate on my rehabilitation.

``At the moment I don't remember everything about what happened in Tunisia. I recall being there on holiday with my husband Phil and then waking up in hospital here - but not too much in between. I can only vaguely recall parts at this stage.

``Here in the hospital I have been supported hugely by my family, who have been at my bedside from day one. They've distracted me by talking about the new kitchen they are working on at my house. My husband Phil and I had been planning it - it was the next project for the two of us so I'm completing it for him. We hadn't had a new kitchen in 30 years and the family have taken it on while I've been in Birmingham so it will be completed by the time I eventually get home.

``I am pleased to be going closer to home after spending the past couple of months in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.''

Professor of clinical traumatology at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Sir Keith Porter said Mrs Heathcote was making ``great progress''.

He said: ``Allison has had staged surgery to both fix and reconstruct the gunshot wounds to her right arm. She has also undergone a number of abdominal operations for which she needs ongoing treatment, so she will be returning here for outpatient appointments.

``We applaud her courage and the immeasurable support from her family and would like to say that it has been a privilege to treat her.''

Mrs Heathcote was shot in the stomach and shoulder. She was pictured shortly after the attack in her pink bikini lying immobile on a sun lounger as hotel staff tended her wounds. Her 52-year-old husband was described by family as her soulmate.

Mrs Heathcote was among four Britons seriously injured in the attack who were flown back to the UK by the RAF.