Best wishes for both.
Wishing the best and full recovery to Silva!
Is it OK to speculate on this accident because it might prevent the next one?
Did the helmet save her from more or contribute to her injury?
The way Boyd described her injury hitting her horse neck before hitting the ground - sounds like maybe whiplash where helmet and its edge can actually cause more problem crushing the base of the skull/spinal cord…
Just ask race jockeys…
[QUOTE=kinscem;7465062]
Wishing the best and full recovery to Silva!
Is it OK to speculate on this accident because it might prevent the next one?
Did the helmet save her from more or contribute to her injury?
The way Boyd described her injury hitting her horse neck before hitting the ground - sounds like maybe whiplash where helmet and its edge can actually cause more problem crushing the base of the skull/spinal cord…
Just ask race jockeys…[/QUOTE]
Really?!? Are you suggesting she would have been better off without the helmet? It was pretty clear that the consensus was that the helmet was extremely important in not sustaining a more serious injury.
…So not helpful.
It sounds like the doctors told her husband specifically that she would have been hurt much worse without the helmet so there is little point in speculating otherwise. Best wishes for a full and quick recovery.
[QUOTE=kinscem;7465062]
Wishing the best and full recovery to Silva!
Is it OK to speculate on this accident because it might prevent the next one?
Did the helmet save her from more or contribute to her injury?
The way Boyd described her injury hitting her horse neck before hitting the ground - sounds like maybe whiplash where helmet and its edge can actually cause more problem crushing the base of the skull/spinal cord…
Just ask race jockeys…[/QUOTE]
I have been hit in the same way - my helmet peak saved me, without it I would have had a broken nose easily, and with no helmet I would probably be dead. I actually felt my brain move in my skull…I didn’t fall off but quickly dismounted because I was so dizzy.
No, there is no speculation. She fell from the horse afterwards while unconscious, no helmet for that fall would have also worsened the damage.
Any updates?
I have trained race horses for 25 years and never once heard a jockey complain about a helmet worsening an injury. Brims can be dangerous but jockey helmets don’t have a brim of course so it’s a moot point.
[QUOTE=Jealoushe;7465788]
I have been hit in the same way - my helmet peak saved me, without it I would have had a broken nose easily, and with no helmet I would probably be dead. I actually felt my brain move in my skull…I didn’t fall off but quickly dismounted because I was so dizzy.
No, there is no speculation. She fell from the horse afterwards while unconscious, no helmet for that fall would have also worsened the damage.
Any updates?[/QUOTE]
Ditto on a similar injury… horse went down, and on his way back up smashed my face with his neck, broke my nose and did serious damage to the soft tissue in my mouth. I wish he had hit the brim instead of my nose, but my nose probably sticks out further, lol.
I also did not fall off, but I looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to my face for the next two weeks.
You can ride without a helmet but you can’t ride without your brain. Sounds a bit blunt but it is reality in this sport.
[QUOTE=Jealoushe;7465788]
No, there is no speculation. She fell from the horse afterwards while unconscious, no helmet for that fall would have also worsened the damage.
Any updates?[/QUOTE]
She’s conscious and talking. 
http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/silva-martin-conscious-talking-after-fall
[I]“She’s doing lots better,” said Boyd, who made the six-hour drive from the Red Hills CIC in Tallahassee, Fla., to Silva’s bedside in Delray Beach, Fla., on the day of the accident and then returned in time to compete the six horses he has entered. "This morning I talked to the doctor, who said that her condition had stayed the same, but for sure during the day she’s come more to life. She’s responding, and I was lucky enough between my rides in the three-star to talk to her on speakerphone. It was wonderful hearing her voice.
“She thinks it’s 1988 for some reason, but she knows who I am!” Boyd added.[/I]
I got knocked out when a sale horse I was trying tripped and fell as I asked it to canter. I was only out for a minute or so (according to my husband who saw the whole thing) and when I regained consciousness, I kept thinking it was Memorial Day weekend which was the weekend before my fall. He drove me straight to the hospital for an MRI, and it took me all day to remember what we had been doing that day (and that it wasn’t Memorial Day w/e). For a long time after that I had a tic in my left eye, but other than that, and completely blacking out for about 20 minutes after the fall, I was fine.
Best wishes to Silva for a full recovery. So scary how such a serious head injury can happen so quickly during what sounded like a fairly routine ride.
[QUOTE=wanderlust;7465935]
Ditto on a similar injury… horse went down, and on his way back up smashed my face with his neck, broke my nose and did serious damage to the soft tissue in my mouth. I wish he had hit the brim instead of my nose, but my nose probably sticks out further, lol.
I also did not fall off, but I looked like someone had taken a baseball bat to my face for the next two weeks.[/QUOTE]
Someone I rode with in high school was hit in the face with the horse’s neck somehow (don’t remember the details) and broke her jaw. She had it wired shut for a long time. The helmet visor kept her from hitting her nose/upper face which could potentially be fatal.
Jingles for Silva for a complete and quick recovery and hopes for no post-concussion syndrome!!!
Jingling madly for Silva! Hopefully having her hubby’s familiar voice at her side will help now that red hills is over.
COTH is reporting that her condition has taken a turn for the worse:
Martin began smiling and speaking a bit on Friday and was able to communicate even better yesterday, but today “she’s had a bit of a battle,” according to her husband, four-star eventer Boyd Martin.
“I just got a phone call saying that she’s gone unconscious again, so they’re worried that she’s started bleeding [again] in her brain. She’s not responsive. I’m going to jump on a plane and fly down there,” said Boyd, following his win in the intermediate horse trial division at Red Hills in Tallahassee, Fla., this afternoon.
http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/silva-martin-s-condition-worsens
No! ): Sending more jingles their way.
Jingles, jingles and more jingles for the entire Martin clan!
Such a sad and truly scary accident. One can only hope that people will realize the importance of helmets after yet another freak accident. So sad to read the update article on the main page saying things have taken a turn for the worse. My heart breaks for all of them! While I have never met Silva or Boyd, I have heard they are two of the kindest people in the horse world. So devastating. I will never understand why bad things happen to good people.
Update is good, as of this evening:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/updated-silva-martin-s-condition
[QUOTE=Winding Down;7469122]
Update is good, as of this evening:
http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/updated-silva-martin-s-condition[/QUOTE]
She’s a tough person. Thinking positive thoughts that she will be driving that new car soon!!!
I’m really surprised that not one word was mentioned regarding Boyd’s decision to continue his weekend at Red Hills…
We just had a very similar accident in our hunt field; horse fell on rider, rider was knocked unconscious for a few minutes, and it was determined at the hospital that he had a brain bleed. He never had any issue with speech or mobility, nor did he go unconscious again, yet his wife was told not to leave his side until he had the all clear. Several doctors in our hunt explained the gravity of the injury, and that he could make a turn for the worse at the drop of a hat.
I was really disappointed to hear that Boyd continued to compete, and feel that him saying that ‘Silva would want him to compete, that they’d worked so hard to get there’, was a pretty lame excuse. Totally changed my perspective on him.
I do hope Silva had a better day today and continue to regain her speech and mobility.
It isn’t like he left her on the couch unattended. They are going to have mind boggling medical bills even with insurance. I assume they told him she was not in imminent danger so he opted to earn some money.
Everyone handles these things differently. Me…I’ve never understood why people think having someone sitting there waiting is the only way to express love and loyalty.
He did his job…and life is about these sort of balances. There are hard choices people have to make…and I personally don’t think there is a absolutely clear right or wrong choice.
Seems to me like that was a strictly personal decision that he, and he alone, could make and he shouldn’t be judged by others who have zero knowledge of the details, nor the relationship. It is absolutely none of your business and really tacky to post your judgement on a BB.
