Caroline Shepherd, aged 37, from Helmsley, North Yorkshire, was hacking home from a days hunting on her horse at Lockton near Pickering when she suddenly collapsed and fell from her horse.
“One minute I was speaking to my dad and then the next thing I can remember was waking up in hospital 8 days later”, said Caroline. A friend of Caroline’s, who was with her at the time, immediately rushed to her friend, who had stopped breathing and was turning blue and began performing CPR. An ambulance was called and due to the remote location, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance was dispatched. Caroline’s friend continued to perform CPR for 10minutes while waiting for assistance. Caroline, who lives in Wombleton, said: “Basically I had died and it was only due to my friends that I am still here now as they resuscitated me.
“I was just beginning to regain consciousness as the ambulance crew arrived and they along with the onboard doctor, put me to sleep to fly me to James Cook Hospital.”
After arriving at hospital Caroline underwent several scans which revealed that she had suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage (bleed on the brain). Doctors decided surgery was the best option to enable Caroline the best chance of recovery and operated on her. After the successful surgery, Caroline remained in ICU on life support for the next week.
She said: “I was unconscious for seven days and eventually grew strong enough to be taken out of ICU and moved to the HDU unit “It was here the realisation of what had happened to me began coming to light as I’d lost feeling down my right-hand side. I had to begin the gruelling task of re-learning coordination, walking, and feeding myself.”
Through sheer determination, Caroline was allowed home 4 weeks after the incident last January. “I have no feeling in my right thigh and am still very tired and need to take long rests when I have done anything but I have managed to get back riding which has helped me enormously,” she added. Horseriding is an excellent therapy for people suffering a brain injury. It helps to improve balance, motor skills, and core strength to name a few of the benefits. Riding has helped Caroline’s recovery so much, she has even managed to join her local hunt for half a day on the field.
“The YAA played a massive role in helping me to make such an amazing recovery and it was due to this that I wanted to give something back.” An evening of entertainment was organised at the Pickering Recreation Club with Adam Collier and his Yorkshire dialect. The night was a total sell-out, with all 200 tickets sold. “The generosity from the local community has been overwhelming for me and my family and I can’t say thank you enough to everyone involved. It was due to the local community pulling together, the kindness of others that a staggering total of £6,919.50 was raised.”
Caroline said that her injury and recovery had a profound effect on her, “Life is too short and I now want to do something I do it and enjoy more time with family and friends. I am very lucky to have been given a second chance of life.”
