On October 30th, 2010 my 13 year-old daughter Amber took her 3 year old Pintabian filly, Dreamer out of the pasture to take her for a little ride. Meaning Dreamer was green broke, we only let Amber take her up and down the driveway. They did great at first, my husband Jerry would lead Dreamer for the first few times, then Amber was ready to go it alone. She rode her a couple of times to the end of the drive way and then told me she wanted to see how she would do at a trot. Amber clicked her tongue for her to pick up a little speed and for no reason Dreamer took off at a full run. Amber pulled back on the reigns trying to get her to stop and I jumped in front of her but she just would not stop.
Dreamer hit a 3 wire fence and the horse went down along with Amber still on her back. When I turned to look I could not see Amber and Dreamer was still down. I ran over and Dreamer got up and Amber was not under her thank goodness like I thought but on the other side of her. Amber’s eyes were closed and she was not moving. I ran for the house while my husband stayed with her.
I called 911 and we waited which seemed like an eternity for the ambulance to get to our place. I called my neighbor to come and help and who would of ever thought had her friend up from the Cities who worked in the E.R. hospital there visiting at the time. Amber had her helmet on which we have taught our kids from day one to always wear a helmet even when they are doing ground work. The ambulance arrived and we ended up in Hallock MN first until they got her stabilized. Then she was air lifted to Sanford in Fargo North Dakota.
Amber ended up staying in Sanford for 31 days. She had to learn to walk again, and to eat. Every doctor Amber has seen has told us, “Amber would not be hear today if it wasn’t for her wearing that helmet”. The helmet was destroyed in the accident. Amber still has a lot of issues, she has problems in school and daily living but we are working on it and now it’s been almost 2 years and thank goodness for the helmet.
-Tracey Frame
There are likely to be lingering effects of the TBI. Check into neurofeedback to help speed and complete recovery. I am here only because of a helmet also. It took neurofeedback to make me right. Since I am a psychologist I did the training and now treat others with neurofeedback as part of my practice. Good parents for insisting on a helmet!