Woman needs open heart surgery after kicked in LEG by horse
A woman has been left needing open-heart surgery - after a spooked horse kicked her in the leg.
Paris Hedger, 20, went horse riding while on holiday in Port Vila, Vanuatu, with her friends.
But she says the horse went “crazy” and kicked her in her right leg as she was walking behind it.
She was left with a swollen leg and was given an ice pack and a wheelchair - thinking she'd suffered nothing more than bruising.
But just one month later, she was left in intensive care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, US, after blood clots in her leg travelled to her lungs.
Now she needs open-heart surgery to remove the blood clots from the pulmonary arteries, and has been told she’ll be put into a medically induced coma this week to give her lungs a chance to "reset."
Paris, a former travel blogger, from Adelaide, Australia, said: “I wouldn’t recommend going horse riding in unfamiliar environments - the only option left for me is major surgery and a coma.
“If the surgery goes well, it’s going to be a long road to recovery.
“But if it goes wrong - I could be looking at a three-month coma, and an emergency double-lung transplant.”
The accident happened while Paris was in Port Vila, Vanuatu, on November 25, 2023.
She was on a horse riding excursion with her friends - but had doubts about her horse’s temperament.
“I felt quite unsafe,” she said.
“The horses were all riding really close to each other.
“Mine went crazy when I tried to get on it, and just kicked back at me.”
Paris was told to sit down by helpers and back at her accommodation, she was given ice and a wheelchair.
But, thinking she’d badly bruised her leg, she didn’t get checked out by a doctor.
On November 28, she flew home to Adelaide - and noticed her leg looked really swollen.
She said: “I went to the hospital to get checked out.
“They wanted to rule out a break, so I had my leg x-rayed.
“Once doctors found out it wasn’t broken, I was sent home.”
On December 17, Paris set off to New York for another holiday with her friends.
She noticed on the plane that she was suffering from a bad cough and felt breathless after walking several steps.
By the time she transferred in LA, she struggled to breathe at all.
“I visited the GP in Los Angeles,” she said.
“He sent me straight to the emergency room in Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
“There, they found I had blood clots all over my lungs - which must’ve travelled from my leg.”
Doctors admitted Paris to the intensive care unit (ICU) - where she stayed for three days.
She stayed in the hospital for 10 days in total - until she stabilised, and was allowed to be prescribed blood thinners.
“My doctors asked me if I’d had any trauma in my leg,” she said.
“They couldn’t believe no-one picked the blood clots up beforehand.
“Long flights, obviously, can cause them to grow even more.
“I was given lots of different medications to help with my heart.
“I couldn’t do any exercise at all.”
Paris Hedger, 20, went horse riding while on holiday in Port Vila, Vanuatu, with her friends.
But she says the horse went “crazy” and kicked her in her right leg as she was walking behind it.
She was left with a swollen leg and was given an ice pack and a wheelchair - thinking she'd suffered nothing more than bruising.
But just one month later, she was left in intensive care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, US, after blood clots in her leg travelled to her lungs.
Now she needs open-heart surgery to remove the blood clots from the pulmonary arteries, and has been told she’ll be put into a medically induced coma this week to give her lungs a chance to "reset."
Paris, a former travel blogger, from Adelaide, Australia, said: “I wouldn’t recommend going horse riding in unfamiliar environments - the only option left for me is major surgery and a coma.
“If the surgery goes well, it’s going to be a long road to recovery.
“But if it goes wrong - I could be looking at a three-month coma, and an emergency double-lung transplant.”
The accident happened while Paris was in Port Vila, Vanuatu, on November 25, 2023.
She was on a horse riding excursion with her friends - but had doubts about her horse’s temperament.
“I felt quite unsafe,” she said.
“The horses were all riding really close to each other.
“Mine went crazy when I tried to get on it, and just kicked back at me.”
Paris was told to sit down by helpers and back at her accommodation, she was given ice and a wheelchair.
But, thinking she’d badly bruised her leg, she didn’t get checked out by a doctor.
On November 28, she flew home to Adelaide - and noticed her leg looked really swollen.
She said: “I went to the hospital to get checked out.
“They wanted to rule out a break, so I had my leg x-rayed.
“Once doctors found out it wasn’t broken, I was sent home.”
On December 17, Paris set off to New York for another holiday with her friends.
She noticed on the plane that she was suffering from a bad cough and felt breathless after walking several steps.
By the time she transferred in LA, she struggled to breathe at all.
“I visited the GP in Los Angeles,” she said.
“He sent me straight to the emergency room in Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
“There, they found I had blood clots all over my lungs - which must’ve travelled from my leg.”
Doctors admitted Paris to the intensive care unit (ICU) - where she stayed for three days.
She stayed in the hospital for 10 days in total - until she stabilised, and was allowed to be prescribed blood thinners.
“My doctors asked me if I’d had any trauma in my leg,” she said.
“They couldn’t believe no-one picked the blood clots up beforehand.
“Long flights, obviously, can cause them to grow even more.
“I was given lots of different medications to help with my heart.
“I couldn’t do any exercise at all.”