First aid for horse riders - 14th April
Would anyone be interested in going to a first aid for riders session on 14th April? It’s at 6.30pm in Harrogate - if you’d like to come, please contact James (james@golfbravo.co.uk) or Tracy ASAP so we can let them know numbers.
The event is being organised by Joanna Joyce-Gray, who took a nasty tumble while out hunting with the West of Yore and realised she hadn’t a clue what to do should she come across someone else in a similar situation. Donations on the night to the Air Ambulance.
Here’s the article from last week’s Equestrian Post…
Accident prompts rider to launch first aid training
Joanna Joyce-Gray cannot remember what went wrong when she put her advanced eventer at a hunt jump with the West of Yore.
But she knows she hit the ground and went to hospital by air ambulance and – she admits – if she had been alongside another rider in the same situation she would not have known what to do.
As a result, she has organised an advice night on first aid in the field in the hope of educating others.
Her story began when the West of Yore had almost finished their hunting day from Bolton Hall, near Leyburn. She was on gate duty and put her horse at a simple hunt fence.
She said: “The going was good and we were just approaching a hunt fence, that’s the last I remember.
“Everybody waited for me to get up and go fetch my horse, they quickly realised I was not moving, I was unconscious. Everybody helped, from seeing to my horse, lending jackets, dog beds and other things to keep me warm as they waited.
“I was airlifted to Middlesbrough Hospital with suspected back and head injuries where I spent the next three weeks recovering from damage to my kidneys and a broken vertebrae. I was very fortunate that all the injuries I sustained will heal.
“While lying in hospital, I realised that if it had been somebody else on the floor and they needed support while waiting for medical help, I would not have known what to do, I have never done any first aid training.
“Having spoken to so many people about this, I realised I was not the only one and hence the organisation of the training. Horse riders are often in the countryside and medical assistance takes time to get to you in the event of an accident.
“We should take it upon ourselves to be in a position to help somebody if we are needed to.
“I am hoping this may just make people think and commit to spending one evening learning the basics so that they could help in an emergency and no longer leave it to chance that when somebody does unfortunately fall off, somebody else will know what to do.”
The training evening is at the Yorkshire Hotel, Harrogate, on April 14 at 6.30pm. Any donations raised will go to the Great North Air Ambulance.