Medical technician Sue Forth hit on the perfect remedy when her ambulance became stranded almost a mile from an injured schoolgirl pony rider.

To the rescue: Medical technician Sue Forth with fall casualty Rachel Stewart. Sue abandoned her ambulance and went on horseback to treat Rachel

Faced with a long dirt-track trek carrying heavy first aid equipment Sue, 26, decided horse sense should overtake horse power.

Even though it was ten years since Sue had last taken to the saddle, she commandeered the mount of a nearby helper and galloped to the rescue of fallen rider Rachel Stewart, aged 13.

Sue, who is attachedto the North Yorkshire Ambulance Service at Bramham, explained she was called to Deepdale Lane, Boston Spa, after a horse riding accident.

But when she arrived with her driver, Station Officer Phil Storr, they found the lane to be no more than a narrow dirt track.

"There was no way we were going to get a great big ambulance down there," said Sue.

"We were about a mile away from the injured young girl and at that time did not know how badly she was hurt. A couple of her friends had raised the alarm and ridden back to the lane top.

"They told me Rachel was lying on her back on the floor unable to move. She had been thrown head first from her horse in a dry ditch and we were still a mile from her.

"There was only one decision. I asked a rider who was there if I could borrow her horse and jumped aboard using my bulky first aid bags like panniers."

Driver Phil was left to battle his way to the scene on foot and when Sue reached Rachel things looked far worse than they actually were. Rachel had been severely winded and was in shock. But apart from a severe shaking, bruising and pulled muscles in her back she recovered after first aid and a check-up at Harrogate District Hospital.

Rachel, who is a pupil at Boston Spa Comprehensive School and lives in nearby Clifford, said: "It was a bit of shock to see an ambulance girl arrive on horseback. My horse, Monty, who is 22 years old and should know better, had bucked going down a steep hill and thrown me over his head."

Rachel said: "I was bruised and battered but there were no broken bones."

North Yorkshire Ambulance Service spokesman Nigel Metcalfe said: "Sue showed great presence of mind. When faced with a difficult situation and with time against her she called on her old horse riding skills and got things sorted. She did very well."

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