A teenager whose front teeth were knocked out after her horse kicked her in the face says she’s “very lucky to be alive.”
Ella Shilson of Sturminster Newton, Dorset, bought her new horse, six-year-old Friday, earlier this year and three days later walked him to the arena for their first ever ride together.
But the 19-year-old claims her Irish sport horse must have been startled, accidentally kicking her in the face and knocking her unconscious for about 30 minutes until she was discovered by a dog walker.
The dairy farmer was only half conscious but still managed to update her BeReal account, a social media app that requires users to share what they’re doing at a given moment, before being taken to Poole Hospital in Dorset. brought.
There, she was discovered to have a shattered jaw, two missing front teeth, holes in her cheek, and a lip that had split in two.
The animal lover claims doctors at the hospital said the freak accident was life-threatening – as Friday’s horseshoe was just inches away from ‘slamming her nose to her brain’.
Ella had surgery the next day to have a metal plate and braces fitted to keep her jaw and teeth in place before finally having the braces removed three months later.
The animal lover said missing her most prominent teeth had a huge impact on her confidence – as onlookers would point and ask, “Why does she look like this?”, while others labeled her a “vampire.”
The teenager claims she was told by the NHS she would have to wait up to three years to receive dentures, so raised money to have them done privately – and she loves the result.
The animal lover claims doctors at the hospital said the accident was “life-threatening.”
Ella said missing her most prominent teeth had a huge impact on her self-confidence
The 19-year-old says the accident is a ‘little blurry’ but remembers waking up in hospital
She says removing it every night is a constant reminder of what she’s been through.
In an attempt at a more permanent solution, she now hopes to raise £10,000 for implants
She added: “It’s all a bit blurry. Pretty much all I can remember is waking up in the hospital with my mom next to me.’
An x-ray shows the hole in Ella’s mouth after her horse kicked her in the face on Friday
Dairy farm worker said unfriendly onlookers have said she looks ‘like a vampire’
She was released from the hospital three days later and finally got her dentures in May.
Ella set up a fundraising page and was extremely grateful to have raised enough to have her dentures done privately.
She said her two front teeth are missing and doctors were forced to remove one of her lower teeth to straighten her jaw, so she hopes to get this fixed too when she has implants.
She also hopes to raise awareness of the importance of riders always wearing helmets, claiming it saved her life.
Ella has set up a fundraising page and hopes to raise £10,000 to get implants fitted
Ella said: “I set up GoFundMe because the NHS said even for the dentures there was a two to three year wait.
“Friday is going really well,” she added. “He didn’t do it out of spite, he got scared.
“He’s like a different horse. He’s as good as gold, has the nicest temperament ever and knows he’s home and not going anywhere now, he’s very settled.
“We are the best of friends. He neighs at me every time I see him and runs to me in the field, he’s my little baby.
The University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust said Poole Hospital deals with urgent patients and after that initial emergency care, patients are then discharged to their general dental practice for ongoing care.
You can donate to Ella’s fundraising page here.