Please wear your helmets!

On Wednesday afternoon, Vallu spooked at a car speeding on the little road that is about ten meters away from our outdoor arena. Unfortunately, I had long reins in walk when he suddenly shot up in the air and tanked off so that I eventually got thrown off, but ended up thrown off into the arena's fencing before falling to the floor.

How much of the fencing my helmet broke

I have never experienced so much pain in my life as I did when I finally came round after being knocked out (I don't remember the falling off and by the time I came round mum had already managed to catch Vallu) and once I started trying to get up, I saw blood falling onto the ground and I thought I'd cracked my head open. Luckily, instead of my head (thank you Samshield helmet) I had an inch (2.5cm) long cut in the corner of my eye which resulted in a lot of blood all over my clothes. At the hospital several hours later, the scans and x-rays came back to show that nothing was broken! Two different doctors were totally baffled by this but I joked that I have magical bones. Everything is just bruised - my face, hand and wrist, ribs, stomach and my back and I have two stitches in the corner of my eye but it could have been so much worse if I hadn't been wearing my helmet. I was kept in hospital overnight for observations because I was apparently slurring my words and I couldn't remember much... There were moments of clarity when I even managed to message friends to tell them that I was alive but then were moments that I still today don't even remember.

(SLIGHTLY GROSS PHOTOS BELOW)

In hospital before the stitches, you can see the cut in the corner my eye

Day after, eye totally swollen shut on the way to the specialist eye doctors

Today is the first day that I have been able to think coherently and look at a laptop screen for more than ten minutes before feeling terrible. My bruises are turning to so many different amazing shades and the swelling around my eye has started to go down so that I have 50% of my sight back. The day after I got sent to the specialist eye doctors in Helsinki to make sure that there was no permanent damage to my eye and luckily it appears everything is okay! Everything could have been so much worse and I am incredibly lucky to come out of this with just a concussion, two stitches and a lot of bruising. 

I have written this post not because I want attention or sympathy, but because in case anyone who reads this rides without a helmet, I'm begging you to reconsider and to wear one. I could still be lying in hospital or worse if I hadn't been wearing my helmet.

Two days later, back on! (only for ten minutes in walk because I felt too bad to stay for longer)