So
much thanks for the SSIT
This blog is the article I wrote to support my page on the southern spinal injuries website.
My Name is Sallyanne Haigh I
am 46 and in October 2015 my life changed forever as I knew it. I was attending
a horse riding rally with my local riding club on my own horse Oubles. She was
a character and a hand full at times. This particular day she was on one!! and
in the afternoon when we were doing cross country training she reared up and
fell over backwards with me still sat in the saddle.
Oh I have never felt pain like it, I heard my
bones cracking and when I landed on the floor with her on top of me I think I
blacked out. I was lucky enough to be attended to by the Great Weston air
ambulance charity. They air lifted me to Southmead hospital in Bristol where
following an assessment and 9 hour operation I stayed for 3 months, I had
broken my vertrabra from T11-L2 and sustained a spinal cord injury at L1. I was
paralysed from the waist down, with bladder and bowel complications and was
going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life!!
I left Southmead hospital
and went to Salisbury Spinal unit and this is where I first got to hear about
the Southern spinal injuries trust (SSIT). Weekly peer supporters from the charity
use to come onto the unit to talk to inpatients, I met a wonderful lady called
Marie who was so positive it gave me encouragement that things were going to be
ok. I was lucky enough to be picked to represent The Duke of Cornwall spinal
unit at the inter spinal games in Stoke Mandeville which was sponsored by SSIT.
Right from the beginning I
knew I wanted to go back to riding, and while I was at the spinal unit, one of
the recreational team arranged for me to attend the RDA in Wilton on a couple of occasions so I could get my
fix of smelling horses!! (Some people will understand when I say that!!!)
Having a Spinal injury is a
life changing condition and a huge ripple effect to all involved. I am a Nurse
by profession and have worked in the NHS for 25 years so being a patient was
not comfortable for me. I worked hard at the rehab so I could be discharged
home as soon as possible. Once home I had to set about converting my house for
a wheelchair and much to some peoples horror, I was starting to make plans for how
I could get back in the saddle.
My friend and instructor
Beth Hobbs has been very supportive to me following my accident, one day she
said that she has taken her horse Flynn to Carl Hester MBE for a lesson and asked him whether he though
Flynn would make a good Para Dressage horse. With Carls seal of approval Beth
offered to support me by sponsoring Flynn for me to ride. I was over the moon
as this horse is so special and has such an amazing temperament he makes a
great para horse. I set about raising some money and the riding club donated
money from a tack sale and dressage event and with these funds we were able to
supply and fit a rider hoist onto Beth’s Lorry. This hoist from Dolphin
Mobility meant that I could mount Flynn safely on the yard and at other venues.
I soon realised that I would
benefit from another hoist arm next to the arena as this would be safer, take
less time and reduce the amount of helpers that I would need. I approached the
SSIT for a grant and my equine physio Julia Mottram supported this application
with a letter of benefits. My
application was accepted and I was able to organise a second arm to be fitted
next to the arena. I wrote a thank you letter to the SSIT for their support as
I was over the moon with the access that this hoist had given me. This was
followed up with a meeting with Victoria and Piers from the events team and
management of the charity both lovely people. At this meeting we discussed my
ambitions with riding para dressage and talked about the finances to support
such a special sport. I mentioned about a bespoke saddle to make it easier for
me and Piers said “could the SSIT support this?” I was blown away with the
generosity of the charity.
I wanted to help give
something back to the SSIT so my sister and 4 of my nursing colleagues and
friends did the charity Skydive in September 2018 to raise funds for this
charity and we did a Christmas tombola at work with all proceeds going to SSIT.
I now have an amazing
Fairfax saddle, which with my saddler Paul Allison we have adapted the saddle
to have high knee rolls and thigh rolls and a handle. All these special
adaptions which I will need to be applied to my British Para Dressage
classification record as I am now classified as a grade 2 para rider. All these
adaptions on the saddle make it specialised just for me and helps with my core
balance and stability in the saddle. Being back on the horse makes me feel
happy, out of the confines of my wheelchair I feel amazing and free. Don’t get
me wrong riding is so hard and such a massive challenge. But I hope to now work
on building a relationship and confidence with Flynn and working hard this year
to achieve a personal goal of attending some local competitions this year.
None of this would have been
possible without the support from the SSIT my trainer Beth Hobbs and the huge
network of friends and helpers that I need to achieve my dream of Para
dressage.
Follow my journey by reading
my blog at……
Myparajourney.blogspot.com