A North East woman who suffered life-threatening injuries in a car crash has competed at a national horse riding championship after learning to ride again.

Lucy Ohlson, 41, from Hartlepool, was a competitor at Bramham Horse Trials this year despite having to learn to walk again after a catastrophic car crash in 2010.

Her car collided with a piece of farm machinery near Ponteland and she was impaled by a blade that sliced through the vehicle.

She sustained injuries to her brain, a broken neck, collapsed lung and lacerated liver and was put into a medically induced coma by the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) before being airlifted to Newcastle General Hospital.

"I was in the rehab centre for six months and I went from being in a wheelchair to walking on sticks," she said.

Lucy began riding at a disabled riding centre before eventually riding her own horse nearly 18 months after the accident.

(Image: GNAAS)

"I’m an instructor so I knew what I needed to do to ride again, but my body didn’t know what to do, so I was teaching my body how to do it again," she said.

Now running Petersbrooke Equestrian Centre near Hartlepool, Lucy owns several horses named after characters from The Flintstones.

Among them is Irish-bred horse Fred, who she's been competing with across the north of England, in British Eventing since 2019, her championship goal since.

Setbacks included a shattered pelvis after Fred fell onto her hip at home in 2017, further slowing her recovery.

"After all of my injuries, breaking my pelvis is the one that has put a downer on my riding," she confessed.

"Fred is prone to Azoturia so he has to be ridden every day otherwise he cramps up.

"This means I can’t have a day off and sometimes I’ve had to ride in agony and push through the pain."

Lucy and Fred made their first appearance at the Bramham BE80 championships in June.

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Lucy said: "It was the first time that I’d been there, and it was really good.

"There was a lovely atmosphere, the competitors were really nice and I wasn’t nervous or overwhelmed."

She credits her survival to GNAAS and donates to them regularly.

"I wouldn’t be here without GNAAS so the charity absolutely needs to be supported.

"You never know when you might need them."