A dedicated equestrian has credited her beloved horse with aiding her recovery after she suffered a stroke at the age of 13, leaving her partially paralysed.
Summer Chard, who lives in Newbury, West Berkshire, with her mother Liane, father Lee, and 18-year-old brother Harry, experienced the life-altering event in March 2023.
While resting ahead of a family wedding, Summer – who has a “massive passion for sports” – said both of her arms “stopped working”, a feeling she compared to pins and needles.
When she struggled to sit up in bed, her mother, Liane, promptly rushed her to Reading Hospital.
Initially, doctors treated her for spinal inflammation, but when her movement did not return after several days, a more serious condition was suspected.
She was transferred to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and diagnosed with a stroke, which had left her paralysed from the neck down to her waist.
Summer immediately began intensive physiotherapy to regain movement, as she was unable to wash, dress, brush her hair, or walk unaided.
She entered “fight mode”, determined to progress in her recovery.
She insisted on getting out of her hospital bed daily, occupying herself with colouring or playing with putty to improve her motor skills.
The return home was hard, but after reuniting with her horse, Cindy, a 15-year-old palomino, Summer has made leaps and bounds in her recovery.
She was soon back on Cindy “plodding” around the stable yard.
Summer, now 15, has since regained most of her mobility, although some issues persist with her hands, and is back at school on a reduced timetable.
She credits the “patience” of her horse for helping her get back on her feet.
“When I’m with Cindy, I forget about everything that’s happened and I’ve been able to get better at doing things because of her, like putting on her saddle and attaching her reins,” Summer said.
“If it wasn’t for her, I would have been in such a different mindset.
“You can always find the positives in everything and I always think that everything happens for a reason.
“I’ve grown up so much throughout this journey and this has kind of made me who I am now.”
Several hundred children are diagnosed with a stroke every year in the UK, according to the Stroke Association.
However, Liane said she “did not really believe it” when they got the diagnosis.
“I thought, ‘she’s 13, old people have strokes’ – I’d never heard of children having them.”
Watching her daughter get back on her horse was a “scary” moment for Liane.
“Summer said ‘I trust her’, but I’ve seen them when they ride, they go very fast,” she said.
“She still couldn’t really use her arms but we lifted Summer on and Cindy just plodded along, it was amazing to see.”
Completing tasks in the stables with Cindy, such as lifting her arms to put on her saddle and attaching the reins, has helped Summer in her progress.
“Riding now is absolutely fine, but there were days where it was really hard and I would just cry because I couldn’t do it,” Summer said.
“My progress has gone so gradually but everyday I’ve seen that I can do things again, I just do them in a different way.
“I got so much stronger and it felt so good because I feel I can be independent again.”
In the future, Summer said she would “love” to open her own riding school to teach individuals with disabilities, injuries or mental health issues how to ride horses.
