Emily Gilruth paid tribute to medical staff and the Injured Jockeys Fund (IJF) – as well as all those who have sent supportive messages following her fall at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials.
The rider is now recovering at home, having undertaken an intensive programme of rehabilitation at the IJF’s Oaksey House in Lambourn last week.
“Thank you so much to everyone for their kind thoughts, messages and support since my fall at Badminton Horse Trials,” Emily said in a statement released today (5 June).
“I owe a huge debt of thanks to everyone involved in medical support at Badminton, the intensive care unit at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital, the Royal Stoke University Hospital and the team at Oaksey House, without whom I would not be so well on the road to recovery.
“Thank you all.”
Emily spent three weeks in hospital, including nine days in intensive care, after her fall from Topwood Beau on Badminton cross-country day (6 May). She was airlifted to hospital, where it was found she had suffered a traumatic brain injury.
But by 10 May, Emily’s breathing tubes were removed and she stood for the first time the following day. By 26 May, she had made “really good” progress and was allowed home to spend the weekend with her family before her rehabilitation.
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At the time, Emily’s mother Shirley Carter also thanked the public for their support.
“We would like to thank everyone, far and wide, for all their thoughtful and comforting messages,” she wrote. “We really have been overwhelmed by them, and Emily loves them.”
British Eventing said Topwood Beau was “happily hacking out at home”, having only sustained minor scrapes in the fall.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.
