New wave of success after attack
THIRTEEN years ago, Emily King was a confident woman running a successful wedding carriage business.
But, when an attack by dogs left her afraid to go outside, Emily began to suffer with PTSD, which would change her life forever.
Two dogs attacked Emily, originally from Circencester but now living in Swansea, when she was in a horsedrawn carriage.
They chased her for four miles.
“All that time I thought I was going to die and be thrown from a carriage,” Emily said.
“I was very stressed out, travelling down a country lane and being chased by the dogs, obviously not knowing if there would be headon traffic coming with two horses galloping flat-out with the carriage – luckily no bride or groom.”
Emily, 45, managed to turn the horses into a farmyard, but came up against a closed gate, with the dogs still in pursuit. She was thrown from the carriage and then attacked by one of the dogs, while the other went on to attack the horses.
Luckily, a farmer came to Emily’s aid and managed to throw the two dogs into a barn.
After the attack, Emily said she went into an emotional crisis. Within months, she began to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“You suddenly become someone else overnight,” she said.
“Because there was no diagnosis at that point, people didn’t really understand what was going on. People will shut down on you, not because they’re being cruel, but just because they can’t understand why you become like you do.
“Eventually you get so low and to such a critical point that you then seek help, and when you seek that help you start to realise actually you’re not going mad. You’ve not lost you, you’ve just got this thing and there is a long hard pathway to come out of that deep, dark forest. But it is there and it is going to take time.”
Post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, is a mental health condition that people may develop after experiencing a traumatic event.
“It’s like having a dark passenger. It’s another version of yourself that waits in the background and can almost push the normal you out,” Emily said. After she began to suffer with PTSD, Emily said she found it difficult to function in a normal relationship. She split from her husband at the time and gave up her business.
She said she felt depressed and suffered with anxiety. “I couldn’t go out other than a few places and that was without being escorted by somebody. I was agoraphobic, I was having nighttime dips, where I was waking up screaming and trying to climb out the bedroom window.”
Although she never drank regularly, Emily found herself having a glass of wine or two a day which she said was out of character for her.
“I became very much in a fight or flight mode. I felt that I had to get away, I had to go and find me, and this is why it was so hard for everybody to understand, because for a lot of people I had the perfect, idyllic, in control life.
“I just couldn’t be that, so I literally left everything and had to start again.”
Emily’s case went to civil court against the wedding venue that owned the dogs. A subsequent criminal court case was also heard due to the injuries suffered by Emily and the horses.
Funds were released for Emily to have private medical assessments, where doctors evaluated Emily for PTSD and helped her seek appropriate treatment. She said she received tapping therapy, which helped her to transfer memories and gave her tools to deal with PTSD.
Three years after the attack, Emily moved to Swansea. She found refuge in stand-up paddle boarding, or SUP.
She said: “Having a massive fear of being outside and being near dogs, I was recommended surfing because dogs don’t really go out into the waves.”
She then moved on to paddle boarding.
“It absolutely challenged me. I finally had something that connected with me – it was mindful, it pushed the post-traumatic stress back from me and I was living in the moment,” she said.
The sport involves participants using an oar to propel themselves forward while standing on a paddle board.
Emily said: “I suddenly realised that I could empower myself and it challenged me and put me in situations where I was afraid, but I was able to take control and I was coming out the other side.”
Emily soon moved from training to racing and has been consistently one of the top SUP athletes, regularly winning Iconic Elite Races and UK National Race Series. She is currently the Great British SUP Technical Series Race Champion in a 12’6 size paddle board.
“You suddenly find yourself in this moment where you’re like ‘Wow, look at this - this is my life.’”
In February this year, Emily started a SUP club in Swansea with friends she met through the sport.
“Now I’m very much back to who I was and it’s pushed me into greater things, becoming a top paddle boarder. Nothing is really important in life other than you and being the best version of yourself.”
Emily says that she still has days when she struggles, for instance, if she sees the breed of dog that attacked her. However, she says she has emotional tools that help her get through those days.
‘‘ Eventually you get so low and to such a critical point that you then seek help, and when you seek that help you start to realise actually you’re not going mad - Emily King