An Englishwoman suffered a stroke during a horse race. Her gelding prevented even worse.
Fontwell – Page Fuller whips her horse at a steeplechase, suddenly one eye is blind. A little later she can no longer lift her right arm. At that point, at the latest, the rider will notice: Something is wrong. In the end it turns out that she suffered a stroke in the middle of the race. Now her career is on the brink.
There is no good time for a stroke. But Fuller was particularly unlucky – in the end her horse helped prevent her from suffering further injuries from a fall. Shortly before the first obstacle, the 27-year-old rider could no longer steer the horse.
Horse racing drama: rider suffers stroke – ruptured artery
“When I went to pull him up, I found my right arm was weak and cramping with tingling and pinpricks,” Fuller told the English Sportsbook newspaper Racing Post. “Luckily the horse was a bit of a lifesaver and got me over it.” She was then able to bring the gelding named “Touchthesoul” (German: “Touch the soul”) to a standstill.
Doctors identified the cause of the stroke as a ruptured artery, which probably came from a fall. When this ronn in the neck, they have caused the stroke. Up until the tragic incident, Fuller had completed the most successful season of her career and was raking in six-figure prize money. She does not yet know whether she will be able to ride professionally again.
Rider Page Fuller hopes to return after stroke
“Things depend on how well the artery heals. It’s going to be a long process,” she announced. “When you hear stroke, it sounds awful. But I hope that the effects on me are not as bad as they could have been.”
Horse racing has been popular in England for centuries, and it still is today. The protests by animal rights activists are also getting louder on the island – in the big obstacle race “Grand National” in Liverpool, for example, a horse dies on average in almost every race. (Source: research by Deutschlandfunk). There was also a riding drama at the Olympic Games about the German Annika Schleu. (epp)
