Rider who nearly died back in saddle for Heroes charity

Bev Diamond, 55, was catapulted from her beloved horse Erica, in Sykes Woods, Pudsey, Leeds, after a stirrup snapped on an evening ride with friends

She suffered serious injuries, including a collapsed lung, broken collar bone and a broken arm, and was rescued by the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, as her friends feared the worst.

“I couldn’t feel or move my left arm,” she said. “My friends stopped after I fell and told me not to move. I was taken in great pain to Bradford Royal Infirmary and kept in for 10 days, had an operation and was off work for six months. The doctors told me not to ride again for a year so I could recover. I was devastated.”

Bev, who still has a metal plate in her arm and suffers numbness, has pledged a return ride to the woods in support for her daughter, Nikita, a weapons technician with the Royal Air Force, who is to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in September in aid of the charity.

Nikita, 27, originally from Armley, Leeds, has previously served in Afghanistan and is now based at RAF Leuchars in Scotland.

Ms Diamond, from Pudsey, said: “This is my way of raising some money to help, as she needs £4,000 to make the trip, which also goes to the charity.”

The ride, on May 18, will be almost a year to the day since her accident on May 22, 2012. She will be joined by others including Dawn Reeve, Claire Johnson, Olivia Wright and Paige Palmer.

“The challenge for me is getting back in the saddle, something I never thought I would have the courage to do again,” she added. Donations can be made at www.bmycharity.com/nikitadiamond0