Great North Air Ambulance Service

A woman who broke her pelvis in five places after her horse fell on top of her has praised the teams who came to her aid.

Denise Richardson-Rowell, 52, was getting on her stallion Hollywood at Heggle Lane Farm near Hesket Newmarket, Wigton, when he became unsettled and began to piaffe, which is a form of trot.

Recalling the incident, she said: “We were on a bit of slippy concrete on the farm and all I felt was his hind legs slip under him and he panicked and went back over onto me. So there was 650kg on top of me, and he pinned me down.”

Mrs Richardson-Rowell didn’t lose consciousness and soon after falling to the ground, Hollywood got back up and thankfully didn’t stand on her.

She said: “He didn’t step on me and weeks later I didn’t have a bruise on me, but as soon as he got off the pain started. I remember screaming until I had no breath left in me.”

A young man who was working on the farm put the stallions away and looked after Mrs Richardson-Rowell until the emergency services arrived.

She said: “I remember Dr Natalie Hawkrigg from Caldbeck Surgery and still to this day we laugh about it. She said “Denise you’ll be alright”, I grabbed her sleeve and said “listen I’ve either broken my back or pelvis, get me some morphine.”

A team from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) arrived on scene and began assessing Mrs Richardson-Rowell’s injuries and put her in a neck brace.

Shortly afterwards the Great North Air Ambulance Service’s (GNAAS) helicopter landed nearby, and a doctor and paramedic worked alongside NWAS to treat Mrs Richardson-Rowell.

She said: “I remember lying there before being moved onto a spinal board and listening to the air ambulance coming. Even now I can still hear it, it has a very distinctive sound.”

Mrs Richardson-Rowell was administered morphine and carried down to GNAAS’ helicopter, before being airlifted to the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle.

She said: “I was still very conscious and looking at the ceiling of the helicopter and the paramedic was talking to me. I was listening to the conversations of the team, and I’ll remember this until I die, ETA seven minutes, Cumberland infirmary in Carlisle.”

It was found Mrs Richardson-Rowell had broken her pelvis in five places and she was blue lighted to Sunderland Royal Hospital where she underwent operations to repair the damage to her pelvis before being transferred back to Carlisle.

At the time of the incident, which was in October 2010, she didn’t know if she would walk again, but five months later she was back on her other stallion Maali and returned to eventing after 18 months.

Mrs Richardson-Rowell, who is based at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, has since judged several equestrian events including being invited to judge a horse of the year show at the NEC in Birmingham, where she rode 49 horses.

She said: “As far as I’m concerned, equestrian couldn’t have got any better than that. I owe that partly to the NHS and air ambulance.”

She’s since held two dinner dances to raise money for GNAAS, who rely on public donations to survive, and has raised approximately £10,000 for the charity.

She said: “I have a real passion for the air ambulance they are amazing, their service is priceless.”

GNAAS needs to raise £8.5m a year to remain operational. To find out more about how you can support the charity visit: gna.as/fund247

ENDS

About GNAAS

• The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a charitably funded air ambulance service which provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Isle of Man.
  
• They operate two helicopters 365 days a year and also operate a night-time service in the North East and Cumbria on rapid response vehicles.
  
  
• The aircraft cover an area of more than 8,000 square miles and on board are specialist doctors and paramedics who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.
  
  
• The level of skill and expertise of the on-board team mean they respond to the most critically ill and injured people, giving them the best chance of survival.
  
  
• GNAAS is a progressive organisation which has pioneered pre-hospital care in the region.
  
• The latest techniques, equipment and drugs are constantly being evaluated to ensure the charity can provide the best care possible for their patients.
  
  
• 2022 marked the service providing 20 years of life-saving care. Throughout this time, they have responded to more than 23,500 incidents across the region, with road traffic collisions being the most frequent type of incident responded to by the team.
  
  
• They do not receive Government funding and must therefore raise £8.5m a year through public donations to remain operational.

For more information visit: https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/ or follow @gnairambulance on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok

For press enquiries please email media@gnaas.com or call 07554453494