Charles Wright was shot twice and had surgery at a hospital where the power went out
A UK man had to drive 300 miles with a bullet in his foot after being shot at during a road trip. Charles Wright was travelling alone when he says two armed men attempted to stop his Toyota Yaris.
The 40-year-old initially slowed down but claims he spotted one of the men preparing an AK-47 and quickly accelerated away. Charles, from Buxton, Derbyshire, says two shots were then fired at his car, with one bullet hitting the road before ricocheting underneath the vehicle.
It then became lodged in the heel of his right foot, which was on the accelerator at the time. Charles says he didn’t initially realise he had been shot. He had fractured the same foot playing football earlier that day and assumed the pain was connected to that injury.
Instead, he carried on driving, eventually covering around 300miles over roughly 24 hours with the bullet still embedded in his foot. The incident happened during Charles’ latest adventure through Ethiopia, where he spent 32 days travelling in his one-litre Toyota Yaris.
Charles has been travelling on and off for around 15 years and has driven 48,000km through more than 34 countries. But he claims being shot in the foot was only the start of his ordeal.
Charles says he was later shot at for a second time after following Google Maps at a junction in Awash. He claims two federal police officers suddenly emerged from bushes before a large plastic water container was thrown towards his car.
The officers then allegedly opened fire at his tyres, with Charles estimating that four or five shots were fired. Having already been targeted earlier in his journey, Charles says his instinct was to keep driving rather than stop. He managed to travel another four kilometres with a destroyed front tyre before becoming stranded in the desert.
Other police eventually found him after locals reported seeing a Westerner in the area. Charles claims his phone was taken and that, despite his fractured foot and gunshot wound, he was made to run through the desert.
He says he remembers officers laughing as he struggled. When he later returned to his car, Charles also discovered his penknife and some cutlery were missing. With the car disabled, he was unable to continue to Addis Ababa for treatment and instead had the bullet removed at Dawa Haya Hospital in Awash.
Charles praised medical staff for successfully removing it without him developing an infection. But he said the roughly two-hour operation became terrifying when the hospital suffered a power cut. For around ten minutes, Charles claims staff continued the procedure using mobile phone flashlights, with no apparent emergency lighting or immediate generator backup.
He said: “As the patient lying there awake, watching phones and door handles being touched during surgery was terrifying because my immediate concern was infection and potentially losing my foot.”
Charles claims his ordeal continued following the operation when he was effectively kept at a hotel for around six days with an armed officer stationed outside. He says he was never given a clear explanation for why he was being held or when he would be allowed to leave.
Eventually, people he knew within the tourism industry helped apply pressure and he was released. Charles claims it was not his only detention during his time in Ethiopia, saying he was jailed three times during his 32-day stay.
Crossing the border out of the country was one of the biggest moments of relief of his life. He said: “There were several moments during Ethiopia when I genuinely wondered whether I would make it out.”
Charles has travelled by road through 31 African countries and says his experience in Ethiopia was fundamentally different to anywhere else he has visited on the continent. However, he stressed that it was his personal experience and said he also met several Ethiopians who went out of their way to help him.
He stopped short of telling people not to visit the country but urged anyone considering a trip to research the risks carefully. Charles advised travellers to be particularly cautious around checkpoints, police encounters, prices, theft and visa issues.
He is now recovering from his injuries and changes the dressing on his foot every couple of days. Charles has been advised not to walk normally on it yet but hopes to recover over the coming weeks. His car survived the ordeal too, despite being left with at least two bullet holes.
Charles says he refused to abandon the tiny car that has been his travelling companion for years. He now plans to take several months off to recover and repair the Yaris before continuing his adventures, although he no longer intends to travel further north through Africa.