A horse rider who suffered life-threatening injuries in a horrific crash near Ponteland has recently competed in Bramham International Horse Trials for the very first time.
Lucy Ohlson, 41, from Hartlepool, had to learn to walk and ride again after the car she was in collided with a piece of farm machinery being towed by a tractor in September 2010.
One of the blades of the plough sliced through Lucy’s car before impaling her side and she sustained brain injuries, a broken neck, collapsed lung and lacerated liver.
An off-duty doctor who was passing by stopped to help and managed to get Lucy breathing again before the critical care team from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) landed on scene.
After being removed from the vehicle by firefighters, Lucy was put into a medically induced coma by the paramedic and doctor from GNAAS and she was airlifted to Newcastle General Hospital.
She remained in a coma for a month and spent three months in hospital before being transferred to Walkergate Park in Newcastle for rehabilitation.
She said: “I was in the rehab centre for six months and I went from being in a wheelchair to walking on sticks.”
Lucy was determined to get back on a horse, and with the assistance of her physiotherapist while at Walkergate, she went horse riding at a disabled riding centre, before eventually riding her own horse nearly 18 months after her crash.
She said: “I’m an instructor so I knew what I needed to do to ride again, but my body didn’t know what to do, so I was teaching my body how to do it again.”
After the incident Lucy struggled with her balance and spent two years using sticks to aid her while she completed exercise classes and general jobs on the yard.
Her balance has improved over the years, and she’s recently returned to running.
Lucy now runs Petersbrooke Equestrian Centre near Hartlepool where she owns several horses named after characters from The Flintstones.
She bought an Irish-bred horse called Fred around 10 years ago and the pair have competed across the north of England, winning several events, and began competing in British Eventing in 2019.
This led to her qualifying for the national championships at Bramham International Horse Trials this year, which has been her big goal since she started British Eventing, however the journey to get there hasn’t been smooth.
In 2017 Fred had a rotational fall at home and fell onto Lucy’s hip, which shattered her pelvis.
Following extensive rehabilitation, Lucy was back in the saddle approximately six to seven months after the fall, but she now lives with pain as a result of both of her incidents and suffers from asthma.
She said: “After all of my injuries, breaking my pelvis is the one that has put a downer on my riding.
“Fred is prone to Azoturia so he has to be ridden every day otherwise he cramps up. This means I can’t have a day off and sometimes I’ve had to ride in agony and push through the pain.”
Despite these setbacks, Lucy and Fred competed in the Bramham BE80 championships in June for the very first time.
Lucy said: “It was the first time that I’d been there, and it was really good. There was a lovely atmosphere, the competitors were really nice and I wasn’t nervous or overwhelmed.
“There must have been around 50 people supporting us, including about 20 wearing red clothing and caps while watching us, which was amazing.”
Since her initial incident 14 years ago, Lucy has thanked the emergency services who helped save her life, and still donates to GNAAS on a regular basis, as well as taking part in their lottery.
She said: “I wouldn’t be here without GNAAS so the charity absolutely needs to be supported. You never know when you might need them, so I would encourage people to donate so they can continue helping others.”
Lucy and Fred are now preparing for their next big competition, after qualifying for the regional championships at Frickley Park International Horse Trials, which takes place in August.
If they reach the top five, the pair will return to Bramham next year and compete again.
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