“They Just Saved My Life That Day”: 25-Year-Old Equestrian Miraculously Overcame a Horrifying Brain Injury Once

Equestrian sports are one of elegance, balance, and control. A part of the Olympics since its initial years, equestrians have always had a special relationship with their horses. However, the nature of the sport also brings many dangers along with it. A fall from the horse while at high speed, an agitated animal, misunderstanding between the rider and the horse, could all potentially cause severe injury. One such instance of a horse-riding injury in 2020, almost took the rider’s life.

Sarah Washington is a 25-year-old equestrian from Staffordshire, England. Three years ago, she suffered a terrible fall from her horse that caused her severe brain injury. If not for the paramedics present there in time, it would’ve been very difficult for her to survive that ordeal.

At age 25, Sarah Washington returned from the clutches of death

Last year in August, BBC news reported that Washington went back to visit the paramedic who saved her life that day in 2020. Overwhelmed by meeting Tom Waters and his team, Washington said to BBC, “There is nothing really I can say but thank you, they just saved my life that day”. All the emotions, her trauma, her fear, and subsequently her treatment and assistance, flooded back into her memory. It was a scary incident that could’ve easily claimed her life.

On the day of the incident, Washington’s horse bolted, while she was still attached to the stirrup. This led to her being dragged through the bushy area of Trentham, Staffordshire. It all happened as soon as she had dismounted to open a gate, except she got caught in the stirrup.

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“She had symptoms of a traumatic brain injury where she was not behaving normally, she wasn’t conscious but she was not completely unconscious”, said paramedic Tom Waters after he found her in an “agitated state” in Hanchurch Woods. This was after a friend of Washington saw her condition and was sent for an ambulance. She had to be put in a coma.

Washington is grateful for a new shot at life

From the site, she was instantly taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital, where she spent 3 weeks in a coma. She was subsequently moved to Haywood Hospital. It was horrific what she went through, not unlike what equestrian Jonathan Miller is going through now.

Washington exit the hospital with renewed gratitude, for life and especially the doctors who saved her life that day. She still went back to horse riding, albeit with an added precaution from this time. Her tryst with the extreme dangers of the sport has also made her an active promoter of equestrian safety.

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