oregonpackfan
07-12-2008, 11:46 PM
This past week, my 13 year old daughter has been riding in a horse riding competition along with 400 other girls. She rides both Western and English.
Another 13 year old was riding in the same competition event as my daughter when her 1,200 lb Appaloosa tripped, fell, and roller over onto her. She weighs about 110 lbs. She immediately began screaming that she couldn't move her arms or legs!
Paramedics were called. After carefully attending to her, they put her on a special wood board with her head secured to the board. A life-flight helicopter landed nearby where she was flown to a trauma hospital in Portland.
After about an hour delay, my daughter was the second rider scheduled to perform. Added to the tension was the knowledge that my brother is an orthopedic surgeon in Bozeman, Montana. I recalled several of the traumatic horse-incurred injuries and surgeries he has described to me.
Both the first rider made it through their performances without incident. Because they had been distracted by the earlier injury, they found it difficult to focus and did not perform as well as they would have liked.
A couple of hours later the girl walked in the building escorted by her parents. Apparently, she had just suffered a bruised neck and ribs. The blow to her neck had temporarily rendered her unable to feel her limbs.
Whew!
Another 13 year old was riding in the same competition event as my daughter when her 1,200 lb Appaloosa tripped, fell, and roller over onto her. She weighs about 110 lbs. She immediately began screaming that she couldn't move her arms or legs!
Paramedics were called. After carefully attending to her, they put her on a special wood board with her head secured to the board. A life-flight helicopter landed nearby where she was flown to a trauma hospital in Portland.
After about an hour delay, my daughter was the second rider scheduled to perform. Added to the tension was the knowledge that my brother is an orthopedic surgeon in Bozeman, Montana. I recalled several of the traumatic horse-incurred injuries and surgeries he has described to me.
Both the first rider made it through their performances without incident. Because they had been distracted by the earlier injury, they found it difficult to focus and did not perform as well as they would have liked.
A couple of hours later the girl walked in the building escorted by her parents. Apparently, she had just suffered a bruised neck and ribs. The blow to her neck had temporarily rendered her unable to feel her limbs.
Whew!