In 2003, I had an accident when riding my horse, Astro at Chartwell, Kent and I broke my back for the second time (the first time was in 2001). I was trying to jump a hedge but Astro veered off to the side and attempted to jump a metal five bar gate instead. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it over and I fell off, landing on the metal gate, lumbar spine down. We were travelling at around 30mph so it was a dramatic fall and I urgently needed medical attention.
The hedge was in the middle of nowhere and was not accessible by road. Fortunately, Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex (KSS) were quick to the scene and were able to land the helicopter in a field near to the incident. The doctor and paramedic managed to lift me out of the mud and stabilised my limbs.
They performed an ultrasound to look for any signs that I may have a collapsed lung following my chest injury, which if untreated can become life threatening. The Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) team are able to perform a procedure on scene if necessary that would only otherwise be able to happen in hospital.
I was quickly taken to Maidstone Hospital, a journey which would take well over an hour by road but which took less than 10 minutes by helicopter.
I broke most of the fins on the L3, L4 and L5 lumber vertebrae and lost the use of my legs and arms and was paralysed from the neck down. Luckily, due to the speed of the rescue, the fact that my spine was immobilised by the KSS medical team, and there were no bumpy roads to negotiate on my way to hospital, this paralysis was only temporary. However, I remained without the use of my arms and legs for around three weeks due to swelling on my spine.
