Horse riding accident: 30+ years. No two accidents create the same injuries so it is critical not to compare. Here is a well researched piece from an article (link included) outlining what happens to the brain. In my case I was going over a jump & therein I recall nexting else, even now. This is just another piece of the jigsaw that the social media allows me to engage in and maybe this article will be of benefit to others. (Personally, I add, I lost hearing in my right ear and gained tinnitus; I lost my sense of smell, and have real difficulties with new memories being formed. The points below are consistent with my experience. Also: Patients with hippocampal amnesia cannot imagine new experiences. Life becomes the permanent present.) And… then 2017 diagnosed with breast cancer and now a survivor

Posted on June 25, 2023 by michelleclarke2015

Head First – Horse Riding Accidents and Concussions  (Source:  Horse Journals magazine)

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When horse and rider part company, the rider’s head is usually first to hit the ground. Photo: Shutterstock/Taylon

Extracts from the article below that relate to my situation.

…Head injuries are the most common reason for admission to hospital or death among riders. A fall from 60 cm (two feet) can cause permanent brain damage, yet a horse will elevate a rider’s head up to three metres (more than eight feet) above the ground.  When travelling at seven to ten kilometres per hour the human skull can shatter on impact, yet horses can gallop at 60 kilometres per hour. A rider who has had one head injury has a 40 percent chance of suffering a second head injury. Children, teens, and young adults are most vulnerable to sudden death from a second concussion. While death can be the ultimate outcome of a catastrophic accident, those who survive with traumatic brain injury (TBI) may suffer epilepsy, intellectual and memory impairment, speech problems, confusion, depression, personality changes, emotional changes, and post-traumatic stress disorder. By any score, a head injury is a life-altering event.

What is Concussion or Traumatic Brain Injury?

The website Parachute, dedicated to preventing injuries and saving lives, explains that when a person suffers a concussion, the brain suddenly shifts or shakes inside the skull and can knock against its bony surface. The blow that causes the brain to collide with the skull may be to the head or the body, but it is the force of the blow that does the damage. The brain can be bruised, or the brain can react with a rotational twist that causes shearing or tearing of the nerve fibres as well as bleeding. The shock can cause a change in the brain’s chemical function. No two brain injuries are alike and symptoms are highly variable, lasting days, months, or years.

According to the Northern Brain Injury Association (NBIA), injuries to the brain are among the most likely to result in permanent disability or death. In British Columbia, brain injury occurs at a rate greater than all known cases of multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, HIV/AIDS, and breast cancer combined, per year. According to the NBIA website, 452 people suffer a serious brain injury every day in Canada.

https://www.horsejournals.com/life-horses/head-first-horse-riding-accidents-and-concussions

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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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