Injured rider on road to recovery

A HORSE rider who suffered serious spinal injuries after coming off her horse during a showjumping competition can now breathe and eat on her own.

Charlotte Snowden, from Checkendon, was diagnosed with a dislocated neck at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where she has been for more than a month. 

The photographer, who came off her horse and hit a wall on the final jump of the competition at Checkendon Equestrian Centre on January 15, can now breathe unaided.

She is also able to consume food and drink and has been moved from the intensive care unit to a neuroscience ward.

Ms Snowden said: “I’ve had the worst month of my life. I have down days and up days. I’ve cried a lot and now I just want to concentrate on getting better and going home — I really want to go home. I’m classed as being well now as I don’t need an artificial breathing apparatus to stay alive.

“I went back to eating normal food two weeks ago and I can have whatever I want to eat, which is nice.

“We do a lot of chest therapy, which is all we’re really working on at the moment, and I still feel sleepy quite a lot. I get out of the ward in a wheelchair every day and sometimes get wheeled around and go outside from time to time.

“The fact that we’ve moved on with the tracheotomy coming out and eating my own food has made me feel optimistic.”

Ms Snowden, who has two children, said she had had lots of visitors who brought her fresh food and she’s appreciative of all the positive messages she has received.

She said: “It’s amazing how quickly I remember how to do some things.

“My fingers didn’t work straight away but after a couple of goes I know how to hold a cup of tea — I really am doing well. Thank you everyone, for your support. You’re helping me through an extremely tough time.

“I’ve still a way to go and wanted you to know that you people are amazing.”

After her fall, Ms Snowden had a nine-hour operation on her spine.

She said: “Now for massive rehab. I can’t feel anything from my chest down but both arms have full movement.

“However, my spinal cord is bruised so there is big hope for a good recovery (in time).”

She is due to be moved to the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire as soon as space becomes available.

Ms Snowden said her current hospital room was “nice” and had “big windows and a view”.