Stable head girl given all clear two years on from horrific accident
In the seconds and minutes following the accident, Natalie Everall’s life hung by a thread.
But even as her broken body began to fail, she was saved by amazing co-incidence - a trained medic was one of the first people to pass by.
He was followed by an emergency doctor from BASICS Hampshire, who performed roadside surgery under full anaesthetic.
Now Miss Everall has finally been given the all clear.
She said: “It’s been a struggle but I was told that any major problems with my head injuries should have manifested within two years - and that’s now up.”
Miss Everall, from Great Shefford, was riding her big Honda CVR600R motorbike on a day trip to Stonehenge with a group of friends when disaster struck in March 2011.
The 32-year-old, who was then working for Mick Channon’s West Ilsley Stables, came across a suspected pothole outside Burbage and hit a grass verge before being flung into the air and landing in a hedge with a broken eye socket, nose, jaw and hip, as well as a collapsed lung and a brain haemorrhage.
Fellow bike rider, gamekeeper Giles Wilson-North, said. “I saw her catastrophic crash in my rear mirror. When we got back to her, Natalie was hanging upside down in a hedge. We thought she was dead.”
Among the first to pass by was army medic Kevin Watts, who was able to get Miss Everall’s airway clear and rescuscitate her as her systems failed.
The next piece of luck was the arrival of a highly experienced emergency doctor from BASICS Hampshire who was able to administer hospital-level care on site – including intubating and anaesthetising Miss Everall before performing surgery on her chest by the side of the road.
She was eventually airlifted to intensive care in John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxfordhire.
Now back at work at Mike Channon’s stables, she said: “I’m pretty much good as new - at least 98 per cent. I know how lucky I was there was such advanced care on scene.
“If Kevin and Dr Paul Rees hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t have made it to hospital. I would have died there and then, I have no doubt.”
She added: “Mick Channon was wonderful and allowed me to go back part time until I was more fully recovered. I’ve moved just up the road with Joe Tuite now and although my co-ordination is off when I’m tired, I’m almost fully recovered.”