A TEENAGER has been left “absolutely gutted” after she was forced to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime school trip to China.

Charley Rollo was one of 30 Knox Academy pupils planning to make the trip to the Far East as part of a trip organised by Outlook Expeditions.

But she was injured in a practice expedition and could only watch from the sidelines as her friends and classmates headed for China at the start of the summer holidays.

She said: “I’m absolutely gutted.

“The amount of time I have taken out of personal life to fundraise and the amount of work me and my mum (Lee) put into trying to do anything I could to make money to go to China and then I’m not able to go.” The duo had raised just under £2,500 through a series of fundraisers, including a ceilidh, 60s/70s/80s disco and events at the Museum of Flight.

However, the 16-year-old was still unsure what would happen to the four-figure sum.

“We are still trying to get in contact with Outlook Expeditions and still trying to get the money back,” she said.

Charley, who has just started S6 at the Haddington secondary school, was injured in March during a practice expedition.

She said: “We were up in Crieff and we were near the end of the day.

“On the expedition, we were meant to go through a gate to get back to the camp.

“There was no gate when we arrived where it was marked and we were made to climb over a deer fence.

“I climbed up and lost my balance and I fell back on to a tree stump.

“My leg was caught in the wire of the fence so it was elevated for wee while.

“I was lying for about two and a half hours on the wet ground.” Ambulance, police and the local mountain rescue team attended, with the teenager placed on a metal stretcher and passed through a newly cut hole in a fence.

She was then taken to Perth Royal Infirmary, where she spent a week, with doctors initially thinking she had ruptured both her ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament).

But x-rays and an MRI scan showed they were both just “really swollen and bruised”.

The injuries could have been much worse, with her rucksack potentially saving her from more serious injury.

She said: “When I fell, they were trying to get me to stand up but I felt something was not right. I was in really bad pain in my leg and not able to move it.

“I had really bad pains in the bottom of my back and they thought I might have had spinal injuries.

“If I didn’t have my rucksack on I would have had serious spinal difficulties.” It meant Charley, who lives just outside Gifford, had to wear a metal cast on the damaged right leg for three months and is still attending physiotherapy every week.

However, despite the injury, it was only last month that it was finally confirmed that she would not be making the trip.

A spokeswoman for Outdoor Expeditions said: “I’m afraid that I can’t discuss the details of any one individual but I can confirm that Charley Rollo has withdrawn from the expedition and is currently in touch with our insurers in order to claim against her travel insurance.”