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Riding instructor returns to work after paralysis

Lisa Young,South Westand
John Acres,Devon
Sandra Jones Sandra Jones is sitting in a wheelchair in a garden and is fussing a black and white spaniel which is sitting on a bench next to her. She is wearing a neck brace and a corset over her hospital gown. She is smiling as she talks to the dog.Sandra Jones
Sandra Jones broke her neck, back and spinal cord in a riding accident

A retired riding instructor who was left paralysed after she was thrown off a horse and broke her neck has returned to coaching and judging dressage.

Sandra Jones, 66, who lives on Dartmoor, Devon, said the last 18 months had been "a nightmare of adjusting to life as a quadriplegic" but she had set herself the goal of returning to her work.

She broke her neck, back and spinal cord in the accident and medics told her she may not be able to move again.

"One of the things that has motivated me to get out of bed and defy my expectations, or consultant's expectations, is my passion for working with horses and ponies," she said.

"After survival comes what are you going to live for and you have to really think about living rather than just surviving.

"So I have tried to refine some identity based on the old me and redefine it but picking up threads of what I used to do."

Sandra Jones Sandra Jones is sitting on a wooden bench in a park and a pale brown Shetland pony is resting its head in her lap. She is smiling broadly and is wearing a blue T-shirt and black and white patterned trousers. The pony has a long mane and is wearing a bridle. Sandra Jones
Sandra Jones was visited by a Shetland pony on her 65th birthday as she recovered in hospital
Sandra Jones Sandra Jones is rising a black horse in a paddock. She is wearing a riding hat, blue polo shirt, black jodhpurs and black riding boots. Sandra Jones
Sandra Jones has succeeded in returning to coaching and judging dressage

Recalling the accident, she said: "I was just walking around an arena and suddenly the pony took fright at something and horses being flighty animals, they react in immediacy.

"I found myself flying through the air and landing on my face and knew instantly that it was really serious.

"Nothing worked, I couldn't move.

"I was on my own... I'm told [it was] about 30 minutes before somebody found me. I had given up trying to cry for help."

Jones said her injuries meant "one of the things you lose is your identity".

"The indignities of what a spinal cord injury does to you with all of your internal workings not being functioning properly, or at all in some cases," she said.

"You really keep reaching out to find yourself, who am I now?

"I just hope on behalf of spinal cord injured people that everybody will be just a little more aware of what a spinal cord injury can do to somebody's humanity."

She described the milestones she has achieved along the way as her recovery continued.

"I am battling back to a little walking, swimming with floats and paddles and can now drive myself to where I need to be, including the gym to continue rehab," she said.

Coaching and judging dressage were key motivators for her, she said.

"I can be useful, I can feel as though I can contribute and there is something to live for outside of family, just for me," she added.

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