Nicola Wilson returns home 4 months after life-changing cross-country fall

European champion Nicola Wilson update — (Image credit: Peter Nixon)

European eventing champion Nicola Wilson has returned home after spending more than four months in hospital recovering from injuries sustained in a cross-country fall with JL Dublin at fence 27c at Badminton Horse Trials.

Nicola, 45, suffered a serious neck injury in the fall on 7 May. She has since re-learnt basic life skills such as being able to stand, move her wheelchair, feed herself and brush her teeth ahead of being discharged from the spinal rehabilitation unit at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

At times Nicola was emotional as she thanked those who have been “instrumental” in her recovery to date, saying: “I am so, so grateful to the team at Badminton who saved my life. I am so indebted to you for doing that and putting me in the position where I am now. Having gone from the medical tent at Badminton, where the support and medical attention was outstanding, to Southmead [Hospital in Bristol], where they looked after me equally as well.

“Having been looked after so beautifully at Southmead, I then moved to the spinal unit at James Cook where for the last few months they have become my family. The care there is outstanding – the physios, the occupational therapists trying to teach me everything that I need to learn, to remember how to do, to get my body to do, has just been fantastic. It’s given me so much confidence. I’m incredibly grateful to them.”

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

TOPICS

Carol is an experienced journalist and editor, who is also a passionate amateur rider and dedicated horse owner, having ridden since childhood. She has a particular interest in the emotional well-being and ethical training of horses, alongside veterinary matters, having garnered extensive first-hand experience of numerous equine health conditions through more than 30 years of horse ownership.

‘The team at Badminton saved my life’: Nicola Wilson returns home four months after life-changing cross-country fall

Nicola continued by explaining more about her injury and how her recovery is progressing at the moment.

“My legs are being great,” she said. “They are holding my weight which I am so, so grateful and hopefully they will get better and better. My injury was an incomplete injury to the neck affecting the spinal cord affecting all four limbs.

“My arms have also been getting better, but they are much further behind my legs. I still can’t feel my hands and need my eyes to know whether I’ve got something in my hand or not. I also need my eyes to know where my feet are and where my arms and hands are.

“There is a lot more rehab and work to be done, but I’m so delighted to have phase one completed and behind me.”

You may also be interested in…

Home-bred gives Nicola Wilson’s yard huge boost with Burghley young event horse final win

‘Life is to be lived to the full’: Nicola Wilson shares update on rehab and horses

‘She’s still at the heart of the operation’: wins for Nicola Wilson’s young horses

Nicola Wilson ‘spurred on’ as she begins physiotherapy journey