Sheffield TV presenter shares harrowing coma photo, two years after nearly dying in Rio

The Sheffield-born former Sky Sports host shared the picture on Twitter two years on from the malaria nightmare which nearly claimed her life as she prepared to cover the Olympic Games in Brazil.

Charlie, 35, who attended Tapton School, has opened up about her recovery battle and spoken about her struggles with mental health following her near death experience in 2016.

She posted: "2 years ago this was me... I was in a coma on life support. I had less than 24 hours to live, it was unlikely I’d survive the night."

Charlie was left fighting for her life in a Rio hospital after contracting a rare strain of malaria on her way to the Olympic Games.

She fell ill after completing a 3,000-mile charity cycle from London to Rio and medics initially thought she was dehydrated after completing the six-week ‘Ride to Rio’ challenge for charity.

She was put into an induced coma as medics battled to save her life

Now she has opened up about the events of two years ago and wrote on Instagram: "At this point I had less than 24 hours to live and the doctors thought it was unlikely I’d survive the night.

"They also told my mum I was most likely brain damaged.

"This time last year I was still struggling with my physical health and very much so my mental health.

"I could hear when I was in the coma, it was incredibly distressing, I was also told I was dying when I was still conscious. It was like torture trapped inside.

Along with the tragic photo, Charlie added: "Today feels weird, hard to describe, it floods back memories of the pain and also the heartbreak of my mum and brothers, but I have a big smile on my face that I survived and I’m still surviving.

“We have been through crap as we all have as we all have – we can sit here though and say ‘I survived that’.

"I made a decision to make sure I learn from everything that has happened to me and be a better person for it."