Team chase rider recovering well from fall that led to a brain bleed

A team chase rider who suffered a bleed to the brain after a crashing fall earlier this month has come out of hospital.

Maria Badder, 25, is said to be “recovering well” from her fall at the Berks & Bucks team chase on 5 April.

Maria was thrown clear of her horse at fence five in the intermediate class, suffering numerous fractures to her left wrist and right hand and a subdural bleed to the brain.

“The paramedics were with her in moments and worked on her injuries until the air ambulance arrived,” Maria’s mother, Helen, told H&H.

“The surgeons at the John Radcliff operated on her hand and arm for more than 5 hours, inserting screws and plates into her left arm and wires into her right hand.

“They had to operate on the hand again 10 days later. The bleed to the brain stopped quickly and is resolving by absorbing the clot that was left.”

Maria, a police support officer with Wiltshire constabulary, is back at home and improving every day. She has been cheered by support from her family and friends from the Avon Vale Hunt, receiving hundreds of cards and offers of help with her horses.

Helen added: “Although it was agreed before their round that if one should fall then the others would carry on, Laura Eyles abandoned her ride to help look after Maria and has been a constant source of assistance and keeps her spirit’s up.

“Maria is now bored and desperate to get her hands and arm working properly and for the strength to return so that she can get back on her horse, go running, drive and return to her job.”

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