Mum paralysed after being thrown off horse recalls landing headfirst and telling daughter ‘I can’t feel anything’

A mum left paralysed from the shoulders down after falling off her horse headfirst is battling to regain her old life after being left with only a ‘flicker’ of movement in her hands and toes.

Sam Barrows, a 59-year-old clothing and homeware designer from Rugby, Warwickshire, went riding with her daughter Raegan, 31, on Easter Sunday 2023 when her cantering horse suddenly “slammed on the breaks”.

Sam, a seasoned rider who rode her two horses almost daily, was thrown off the saddle head-first due to the momentum, sustaining acute fractures to vertebrae in her neck and damaging her spinal cord.

The life-changing injuries resulted in immediate paralysis from the shoulders down and Sam remembers telling her daughter, “I can’t feel anything” before being airlifted to the nearest hospital.

Fortunately, Sam is regaining some movement in her body through specialist physiotherapy and rehabilitation, but it will likely take several years and she is having to pay for the sessions herself.

To help cover 12 months of specialist private physiotherapy and psychological support, her daughter Raegan has launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe which has so far received more than £9,000 in donations.

“I’m called a tetraplegic now because the injury has affected all four limbs,” Sam told PA Real Life.

“You are trapped and you’re thinking, well, I’m still here, I’m still me, but the rest of it isn’t happening.

“The goal is not to be in a wheelchair all the time, and even if I can only walk a limited amount, that would be freedom.

“I want to keep improving so that I can feed myself, get myself a drink. I want to brush my own hair.”

“I have 24-hour carers because I couldn’t be in my house on my own … and I have a very supportive family, my husband, John, and my daughter, Raegen, are epic, and I couldn’t do any of this without them.”

Sam enjoyed riding as a young girl and rediscovered her passion for horses around the time her daughter Raegan was born.

She has two horses and a Shetland pony, and used to ride every few days, especially during the summer months.

On Easter Sunday last year, Sam and her daughter went for a morning ride in the paddock by her house.

“It was a nice morning, actually,” said Sam.

“Raegan was outside with her horse, so I thought I’d hop on and have a little tootle around.

“Everything was going really well, and I didn’t see anything that would spook her (the horse).”

But, when Sam broke into a canter, her horse’s demeanour suddenly changed.

“She put in a buck, then a bronc, and then slammed the breaks on,” she said.

The momentum sent Sam flying over the front of her horse.

Even before hitting the ground, she said: “I just had a feeling, I’m not going to land well.”

Raegan, who was nearby, witnessed the “tragic accident” and immediately called the emergency services.

“I went over the front and landed on my head and neck,” said Sam, who remained conscious.

“I just lay there and said to Raegan, ‘I can’t feel anything’.

“A lot of panic ensued at that point.”

Sam was airlifted to the University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire and admitted to the intensive care unit where doctors discovered she had damaged her spine and broken several bones in her neck.

“I can remember them carrying me over the fence and putting me in the air ambulance,” said Sam.

“They described it as a ‘catastrophic injury’ to my family which was really, really stressful.”

She was left paralysed from the shoulders down and spent the next 11 weeks immobilised in a neck brace before being transferred to the NHS Midland Centre for Spinal Injuries for specialist treatment.

“Before the accident my body spoke English,” she said.

“My head was English and it sent English messages to the rest of my body.

“After the accident, my brain was still speaking English but my body changed language, so they don’t understand each other.

“You have to find a way of communicating.”

Fortunately, her injury is classed as “incomplete”, which means that with the right support, Sam will be able to regain some of her movement over time.

When she left hospital, the only movement Sam was capable of making was “a little flicker” in her left fingers and toes.

“All of my independence was gone,” she said.

“For someone who worked, went shopping, did the horses, loved driving around and doing things, like going out for brunch – always a favourite – or walking the dogs, to then being hand fed and having someone brush your teeth … you’re trapped.”

She has since regained some movement in her left arm and legs, and can now stand up with assistance.

“I’m naturally right-handed, so I’m having to learn to write left-handed – it’s a new world being a lefty,” said Sam.

At the end of November 2023, Sam returned home after being discharged from the rehabilitation centre.

While at the centre, she had access to the gym and specialist physiotherapy on the NHS, she now has to pay for it herself.

“There are many people out there who are just lying in their homes with limited access to care because it’s a postcode lottery and the care you get depends on where you are in the country,” said Sam.

“Luckily I do have access to a physio who is not too far away … they’re brilliant, and there’s a gym near me as well.

“The cost of living is high for everyone right now, with food and heating, let alone then trying to fork out £140 for hydrotherapy and 70 odd pounds for a physio session.

“You know, it starts adding up.”

To help ease the financial burden, Sam’s daughter launched a fundraiser on GoFundMe which has received more than £9,000 in donations.

“Anybody who has contributed, I’m deeply grateful and really humbled,” said Sam.

“I just can’t express my thanks enough really.

“If I didn’t have the prospect of going to physio I would just be so desperate.”

Asked whether Sam would consider getting back on a horse she said: “Initially, I thought no.

“But now I would like to get on again, not to do an awful lot, but just to put that demon to rest really.

“It has been something I have really loved and it would be nice.”

To support Sam’s recovery visit: www.gofundme.com/f/help-sam-rebuild-her-life-post-traumatic-spinal-cord-injury