Grateful Sarah says a £3.5k thank you to critical care heroes
Horse rider was on life support after accident
A HORSE rider who spent six months in hospital after an horrific accident has raised more than £3,500 to thank the ‘out of this world’ health teams who helped her recover.
Sarah Washington was in the Royal Stoke University Hospital for 168 days after falling from her horse in Hanchurch during 2020.
Sarah, now aged 24, suffered a traumatic brain injury after the animal became ‘spooked’ and dragged her along a narrow path attached to a stirrup.
She was rushed to hospital and, despite a ‘pretty poor prognosis’, she eventually made a full recovery.
Now she has thanked those who aided her amazing recovery by presenting a cheque for £3,535.24 to staff at the Royal Stoke after completing an epic fundraising walk.
Sarah, from Trentham, said she was on life support in critical care for three weeks following the accident.
She said: “My prognosis was pretty poor at this stage.
“I spent a total of six months in hospital and came out just in time for my birthday and Christmas.
“A month later I got back on a horse and it was the best feeling ever.
“It was a little bit difficult to start with but I knew how much I loved riding. Once I was back I knew I wanted to ride again.
“In June 2021, a year after my accident, I bought my own horse named Lucian. He is incredible and has helped me so much with my recovery.
“I am now back working full-time. My recovery has been incredible and I owe a lot to the amazing medical teams that helped me get to this stage.”
Sarah, who spent four weeks learning to talk again following the accident, set out to walk 168 miles on her fundraiser – matching the number of days she was in hospital.
She walked both locally and in the Peak District. She said: “I set my target as £1,680, so £10 for every day I was in hospital.
“The amount of donations I had was absolutely amazing and I managed to raise over £3,500.
“This money will be split between critical care and the Acute Rehabilitation Trauma Unit, where I spent a significant amount of time.
“The care I received was just out of this world.
“Myself and my family cannot fault either of the teams and we will be forever grateful to them.
“I recently got the chance to go back to pay my thanks to some of the critical care and ARTU staff, and present the cheque to them.
“It was so lovely to see them and for them to see how well I am now.”
Sarah works as a science technician at the Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy in Blurton and is starting teacher training in September.
She added: “I am already planning more fundraising for the Broadfield rehabilitation unit at the Haywood Hospital, where I spent several months, and Midlands Air Ambulance who came to my rescue.”