I watched my 7-year-old daughter get kicked in the head by a horse... I thought she'd never walk or talk again
A seven-year-old girl who suffered horrific brain injuries after being dragged and kicked by a horse has made a “miraculous” recovery.
Senara Wilton was having a riding lesson when she fell off with her foot still in the stirrup. The spooked horse galloped across the training ring with Senara hanging upside down under the animal.
Her parents Pauline and Eric watched in horror as the horse repeatedly kicked Senara in the head during the incident on August 30, 2023. At one point Senara’s helmet was booted off by the horse’s hooves before her trapped foot became loose and she fell to the ground.
Staff at the riding school in Hunwick, County Durham, dialled 999 and Senara was airlifted to hospital by Great North Air Ambulance. Senara, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, underwent emergency surgery after she suffered multiple bleeds and swelling on her brain.
She spent several weeks in hospital and doctors warned her parents she would be unlikely to walk or talk again due to brain damage. Her mum Pauline, 46, said: “I assume the horse got spooked by the fact that something was hanging by his legs and then started galloping.
“Eric, my husband, said he remembered seeing the horse’s hooves kick Senara’s helmet multiple times before it came off. When we got to her she was breathing but it was laboured breathing. We rang 999 and while we were on the phone she stopped breathing and Eric did CPR for several minutes.”
Just before paramedics from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) arrived, Senara started breathing again. Due to the severity of her injuries, Senara was airlifted to Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle for specialist treatment.
GNAAS paramedic Hollie Smith said: “It was clear she was in a critical condition, and we needed to deliver a pre-hospital anaesthetic to protect her brain. We transferred Senara onto an ambulance stretcher and administered an anaesthetic just 30 minutes after her initial injury.
“With injuries like Senara’s, every minute counts, and without interventions like these, her brain could have continued to swell and result in further damage. During our journey to the hospital, we continued to provide care, administering medication to help reduce swelling in her brain.
“We landed on the helipad on the roof of the RVI, where we were met by the hospital's fire team, who assisted us in getting Senara to the emergency department, where a full medical team was ready to receive her. The journey from the incident to the RVI took nine minutes; a journey which would have taken 50 minutes by road.”
After undergoing emergency brain surgery Senara spent almost two months recovering in hospital. Doctors warned her parents, however, that it was unlikely that she would walk or talk again. Despite the grim odds, Senara is now able to take part in gymnastics, karate and swimming.
Proud mum Pauline said: “The human impact as a parent is massive but there’s nothing you can do in that period of time apart from waiting. The initial prognosis, after reviewing the scans, was that they didn’t think she would walk or talk again. They thought she would have issues with grabbing things, and talked to me about dystonia, which is when you have muscle spasms.”
Senara left hospital in October 2023, just a few days before Halloween.
Pauline said: “Her recovery has been amazing. She struggles a little bit with her movement but to anyone else physically she is entirely back to normal. She’s back to gymnastics, swimming and karate. It was a big milestone when she got into swim club before the accident, and about a year later she got back into swim club again.”
This week Senara, now nine, visited the GNAAS base near Eaglescliffe, County Durham, to thank the medics for saving her life. Pauline said: “It was amazing to meet the people who saved Senara’s life. We’re very aware that without them we might not have a daughter anymore.”