Stories
June 9, 2025
Best friends Bridget and Melissa were riding horses Cash and Eddie together on a friend’s property in the Coromandel, where they often rode, a fun track for the pair. However, on this day, what began as a familiar ride along a well-known track quickly turned into a serious accident. Galloping downhill, around corners, up hills and eventually around a blind corner, Bridget’s horse Cash was startled by a digger unexpectedly left on the track during maintenance work.
Spooked, the horse made a sudden jump to the left to avoid it. Bridget, unable to regain her seat, lost her balance and was thrown forward over Cash’s neck, landing underneath him heavily, with the impact mainly on her head. Due to this Bridget has no recollection of her accident.
Riding close behind, Melissa managed to bring both horses under control and called 111, asking immediately for the helicopter as she recognised the seriousness of the fall. An ambulance was dispatched at first, but due to the inaccessibility of where Bridget was, a helicopter was also dispatched to the location, landing nearby after the horses had been led away from the scene. She was transported to hospital, where she ended up in the intensive care unit for two days while doctors stabilised a brain bleed and placed her on ventilator. After which she spent two weeks in the high dependency unit for observation. Family and friends taking turns to stay with her, so she was never alone.
Bridget was then sent to the rehabilitation unit; her accident having affected both her memory and mobility. Determined to push through and motivated to get back to her cat and new boyfriend, Bridget finally came out of rehabilitation and back to her home. Which is where she is now, slowly settling into her life before the accident. Her friend Melissa shared, "if the helicopter hadn’t come, she would have died.”
We wish Bridget all the best for her ongoing recovery and are so appreciative of Melissa for helping to tell her friend's story.
