Ateefa's Horse Trailer Accident
Early Friday morning, May 12th, my worst fear happen. My horse trailer, with my mare Ateefa in it, was involved in an accident. As it flipped across the freeway, the person who was trying to pass me kept on going, as did EVERYONE else on the freeway while all I could do is watch in horror. No one stopped.... I couldn't cross the freeway to make sure she was ok. I had to wait for the troopers and emergency crew to get there. As I rushed to my mangled trailer I thought the worst. There was no way my baby girl could be alive seeing the trailer looking the way it did.
One of the emergency crew members told me she was still alive and I suddenly felt helpless. She was stuck in there and there was no way to get her out. The trailer was on its side smashed.
As the crew started to cut the roof, Ateefa would try and shift her weight. Her legs were pinned down under her. The crew decided to wait to continue until the vet was able to make it to us.
It took over an hour for the vet to get there. He was able to give her a mild sedative so the crew could continue to cut apart the trailer piece by piece.
After getting the roof off, she tried to get up and we were hoping she'd be able to get out. But her left rear leg was trapped under the trailer. It had gone through the escape door which had popped open while it flipped across the freeway.
She was put fully under so the crew could cut around her stuck leg underneath her. The crew worked tirelessly doing everything they could to free her without further injury. Finally after 4 hours of being stuck, they managed to free her back leg.
While waiting for the sedative to wear off we still didn't know if her legs that were pinned were broken or not. After another 30 or so minutes she was able to get out and she did stand!!
Not only me, but nearly the entire crew had tears of joy. For me this was the worst 4 hours of my life. Feeling helpless as you watch your baby suffer. I am a pretty rational person and rarely get emotional, but this was almost too much to bare.
She was rushed to our equine emergency vet. There she was evaluated and found to have no broken bones and no obvious internal injuries. She was stitched up where stitches could be done (areas like her stifle was not stitched as they would likely not hold very well) She was monitored and eventually allowed home. She is now at home on stall rest. She has significant amount of meds. 10 pills in the AM and again in the PM, Pain meds, Antibiotics, creams for all her wounds and of course stitches with bandages that have to be changed daily.
But she is alive, and she is able to walk and for that I am eternally grateful.
There is a Go-Fund-Me started to help with all the vet bills and damage done from this accident.
