Helmet saves young rider's life

A borrowed riding helmet saved nine-year-old Kimmy Reynolds from potentially fatal injuries in a horseback riding accident near Sisters two weeks before Christmas.

Following the accident, an examination revealed that the helmet's slender visor had been ripped off and that the protective interior padding was in pieces. But for the sturdy outer material of the helmet - only dented above the missing visor - there might never have been another Christmas for Kimmy.

For over two years prior to the accident, Kimmy had been receiving instruction and riding different horses at a ranch near Sisters where wearing a helmet was a top priority.

"It had just become second nature to wear a helmet when I was on a horse," Kimmy said.

Once Kimmy expressed the desire for a horse of her own, she and her mother, Jennifer, began a search for just the right horse. The two were assisted in their search by a couple of friends, both experienced riders who carefully checked out each horse Kimmy's mother located before Kimmy rode it.

On the day of the accident, Kimmy was riding a half-Arabian gelding on a gravel road in front of the owner's farm. She had borrowed a helmet for the test-ride.

"I rode him up and down the road at a walk a couple of times," Kimmy said. "He responded well to my aides, so I did the same thing at a trot, then at a canter."

The third time down the road at a canter, the horse failed to respond to the bit when Kimmy tried to slow him.

"We were headed for a paved cross road," Kimmy said. "I had just seen "The Horse Whisperer," (which depicted a terrible horse-vehicle accident) and I knew I had to get off of him."

But suddenly the horse turned and she fell off onto the gravel shoulder.

Kimmy said she got to her feet and felt kind of weird, but didn't realize that she was hurt until she put her hand to her face and found that she was bleeding.

"One look at the gaping wound on Kimmy's forehead, and I knew she had a serious injury," Jennifer said. "A neighbor of the owner's had seen the accident, took us into her house and called 911."

An emergency medic responded.

"After he examined Kimmy for other types of injuries and found nothing too serious," Jennifer said, "he reassured us by saying that he believed the wound could be pulled together and that Kimmy would be all right."

Kimmy was fortunate that a Central Oregon District Hospital emergency room staff member was able to locate a well-known plastic surgeon from St. Charles Medical Center who happened to be visiting in Redmond. She took over of Kimmy's care immediately.

One-hundred-twenty-eight sutures were required to close the slightly curved wound on the upper right side of Kimmy's forehead and a much smaller wound between her eyebrows.

Examination of the second wound had also revealed a fracture.

Members of the ER staff who saw the helmet agreed that it very likely saved Kimmy's life.

Neither Kimmy nor anyone who saw the accident can account for the horse's behavior. Kimmy isn't certain about how her injury occurred, but her love of the sport is such that she is ready to ride again as soon as her doctor releases her to do so.