Recently, I had a freak accident while jumping my horse at home. He refused a jump and, although I didn’t fall off, my left stirrup span around, taking my foot with it. Not entirely realising the severity of my injury, I dismounted because I heard something snap. As soon as I looked down, I realised the damage I had done. My foot was facing backwards and flopped to the ground lifelessly with blood coming through my riding boots.
This is when the severe pain kicked in - I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life. It was horrendous. My boyfriend called the emergency services and the paramedics were with us within 15 minutes. The ambulance came and I was rushed off to A&E. When I arrived, it became apparent that I had dislocated and shattered my ankle completely, and I had cleanly broken my tibia. My foot was literally hanging off!
I was bumped to the top of the surgery list and after three hours in theatre, my leg was held in place by four surgical pins and a large plate with six further pins coming off it. I am now on the long road to recovery and, although I have to have assistance with even the simplest of tasks, I am trying to look on the bright side! The moral to take away from my story is that having the correct safety equipment is vital in our sport. If I had been riding in safety stirrups, this may never have happened. It’s safe to say I’ll be splashing out on new stirrups as soon as I’m up and running again. Although safety equipment is often more pricey than the average stuff, I now realise it’s entirely worth it. This simple accident has meant I have had to postpone university for a year, delay my driving test until further notice, and have obviously had to take a massive break from riding. I encourage everyone to assess the safety of their equipment and make changes if needed.