Sister of government minister suffers ‘traumatic brain injury’ after falling from horse – Telegraph.co.uk

The 40-year-old, from Malpas in Cheshire, is in intensive care after she fell from her 14-year-old gelding Topwood Beau at the third fence of the cross-country course on Saturday.

Mrs Gilruth's brother-in-law Andrew Gilruth told the Telegraph: "With any significant injury it's going to be about a week before anybody knows but she's heading in the right direction.

"She was on one of the non-technical fences [when the accident occurred]. There's no indication that its not all recoverable the problem is we just don't know yet...you just have to wait and see how it progresses.

"All the medical support was there, you couldn't ask for any more than that. The medical cover for Badminton is very rigorous you couldn't fault that. It's planned with meticulous detail and all the team know exactly what they're doing."

Julian Seaman, from the Badminton Trials, saw the accident and said Mrs Gilruth fell having negotiated a fence after either the rider or the horse misjudge the distance.

"To be honest it's a big challenge of a course but it was surprisingly early on that she had a hiccup like that but one a cross country course, every course is a challenge," he said.

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Sister of government minister suffers 'traumatic brain injury' after falling from horse - Telegraph.co.uk