Unfortunately, despite the column that Ines Van den Bosch recently wrote for Equlifestyle, we still see videos of riders riding without a helmet. For our editors, safety is always the top priority while riding and we like to insist that wearing a helmet is not an unnecessary luxury. Charlotte Sunt, who suffered from a really bad fall a couple of weeks ago, shares that opinion. She likes to share her experience with us: "Without my helmet this could have turned out quite differently".
Charlotte can still remember exactly what happened that day: “I was training with one of my horses when I lost my balance after a jump and landed on the ground. After that everything happened very quickly but I still remember somehow getting a horse's hoof in my face. I went into shock almost immediately but never lost consciousness. A stable worker who was also present at the time and saw everything happen, immediately rushed to my aid and called an ambulance. She immediately realized that the situation was serious. The shock I was in at the time made me feel no pain, luckily! The ambulance arrived on the spot quickly and they took me to the hospital, ”she says.
“Once we got to the hospital, several scans and photos were taken showing that the attachments of my jaws, chin and jaws were broken. My chin was shattered and I had a mild brain bleeding that fortunately stabilized quickly. I had surgery the day after, when the brain bleeding was under control. After a few days of recovery in the hospital, I was allowed to go home where I am still recovering. I am still not allowed to eat solid food, I have a scar in my face and horse riding is of course still out of question, but I realize that I have been very lucky, ”the rider continues.“I really don't understand why riders still ride without a helmet. I firmly believe that if I had not worn my helmet, I would not have been able to retell my story. When you see my scar, you can see that the hoof touched my face just below my temple. A few centimeters higher and this would have been a completely different story, ”she continues. “The doctors have told me that everything will probably be fine and I am very happy about that. Yet I wanted to share my story with you to make clear that protecting yourself while practicing our sport is certainly not an unnecessary luxury. Ultimately, you are dealing with a living animal that can sometimes respond unexpectedly, no matter how good your horse is. I am therefore very sorry that I still see videos and photos of riders riding without wearing their helmets. I hope that by telling my story, I can contribute to encourage them to never ever do this again in the future".