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Teacher left fighting for her life after horse riding accident in Dubai stranded in country facing huge medical bills

Wendy Skelton (right) and daughter Rebecca Chisholm the day before the accident. (Facebook)
Wendy Skelton (right) and daughter Rebecca Chisholm the day before the accident. (Facebook)

A primary school teacher who was bucked off a horse and left fighting for her life in a coma in Dubai needs more than £60,000 to bring her home.

Rebecca Chisholm, 24, had been working in the country as a primary school teacher since August 2018, and went to the desert with her mum Wendy Skelton to go horse riding the day before her birthday on Friday 10 May.

Ms Skelon saw the moment tragedy struck, when her daughter's horse reared and bolted, leaving her "clinging onto it for dear life”.

She found her daughter, who was 23 at the time, further down the track lying in a heap in the sand saying she was "dying".

Ms Skelton, an accounts technician, told NottinghamshireLive: "She was saying to me, 'goodbye mum', because she was dying.”

Ms Chisholm was then airlifted to Rashid Hospital where scans revealed multiple skull fractures at the base of her skull and a brain haemorrhage.

Rebecca studied at Manchester Metropolitan University to become a teacher. (Facebook)
Rebecca studied at Manchester Metropolitan University to become a teacher. (Facebook)

She was in a coma in intensive care for three days and underwent emergency surgery twice to stem the bleed on her brain and relieve the pressure.

"The first three days were touch and go as she was in a coma. She recovered but has reverted back to a three-year-old and keeps saying 'horsey, horsey',” said Ms Skelton.

"Her ears were bleeding and she's had to have a needle inserted into her brain to drain the fluid. I keep thinking the horse must have kicked her in the head.

"When she was rushed into intensive care and I honestly thought she was gone. I never thought she was going to make it, it was the longest night of my life."

Ms Skelton says her daughter's medical bills have hit £60,000, and claims the insurance provided by the school in which her daughter was doing a two-year placement at will not cover horse riding as it is an "extreme sport".

St Clare's RC Primary School in Manchester, where Rebecca used to work before she went to Dubai, show their support. (GoFundMe)
St Clare's RC Primary School in Manchester, where Rebecca used to work before she went to Dubai, show their support. (GoFundMe)

She claims they cannot leave Dubai until these bills are paid for, and says an emergency evacuation back to the UK could end up costing another £30,000.

"I just want to let other people know and warn them about it," she added.

"The hospital says she may have to stay in her for at least another week and I'm having to buy all these taxis to get here as I'm staying with her friend who is on the placement too."

A fundraiser has been set up on GoFundMe, started by friend Liudmila Davey, which has already raised over £43,000.

On the page it says “the British Embassy has provided no support for these two British nationals now stranded in a desperate state, thousands of miles from home”.

Ms Chisholm regained consciousness on 12 May but faces a lengthy recovery and an uncertain future once back in the UK.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "Our consular staff are offering advice and support to the family of British woman who has been hospitalised in Dubai.”

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