“I missed horses sos much – now I’m riding again”
PIP RUSSELL was practising Polocrosse in August 2006 when disaster struck. “My mare slipped and we both fell. My head took the full impact” says Pip. The swelling and bleeding to the brain could only be relieved by drilling holes in her skull. More than three months in hospital followed and Pip relearned to walk and talk. “I missed horses so much that I managed to persuade the hospital to arrange for me to go to the local Riding for the Disabled centre a few times. I couldn’t even walk independently at this point but they recognised I needed the boost that seeing the horses gave me.” The biggest challenge she faced once she was well enough, was going back to work just a year after her fall. Handling complaints in customer services is a demanding job and Pip was aware that her speech was still slurred. She needed more time than she had to prepare herself for speaking to customers. The situation came to a head in May 2008 and Pip left. She contacted the Royal British Legion Industries, which offers employment advice and helped Pip identify that childcare could be a good career for her. The idea was to do voluntary work to make sure she enjoyed it and then go into paid work and take the qualifications required. But the nursery couldn’t fund the eight hours of paid work Pip needed in order for her retrain. This is when the MDIRF stepped in. They worked with the nursery to raise the funds required and supported Pip through the journey of re-training. “I gained the NVQ level 3, which qualifified me to do a degree in Health and Social Care and I’m in my second year of that. I’m now riding again and last summer I completed the August ride on a friend’s horse. I still have issues – right sided weakness, double vision, fatigue and sleep disturbance – but I don’t let that get in the way.”
I needed the boost that seeing the horses gave me