A YEAR after sustaining traumatic injuries after being kicked by a horse, Alex Farleigh has challenged herself to a 15,000ft skydive to raise money for Devon Air Ambulance Trust.

In May last year, horse riding instructor Alex Farleigh and her daughter Emily were loading horses into a lorry at the family-run Dittiscombe Equestrian Centre in Slapton when a kick from a young mare left Alex fighting for her life.

'It all happened so fast', said Alex. 'One minute I was shutting the partition that separates the horses, the next I'd been kicked and thrown six metres through the air and was lying on the ground. My stomach started swelling and the pain was excruciating.'

What followed was a race against time to get Alex to the hospital as fast as possible. The air ambulance was called and arrived on the scene quickly and efficiently. It was then that the severity of the accident was made clear – Alex had suffered a lacerated liver, which was bleeding into the abdomen, 12 broken ribs and a collapsed right lung.

'My blood pressure was down to 54 and my veins had all collapsed because of the bleed, so they couldn't put a line in me. They finally got me in the helicopter and gave me a new drug because they thought they were going to lose me.

'This drug, used to clot the blood, saved my life.'

Alex spent more than four weeks at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, undergoing blood transfusions, chest and stomach drains, a cannula and a multitude of drugs, when septicaemia set in and her body shut down. 'My weight went up by two stone, then dropped by four, as the fluid was building and draining. My whole system was shutting down and I felt so rough.'

After recovering, Alex was left feeling fragile for months but on Kingsbridge Show day on September 1 last year she bravely rode for the first time by herself since the accident.

'Horses are in my blood,' she explained. 'I was in a lot of discomfort and pain when I first came home and was very wary out in the yard, but I always wanted to get back to the horses.'

Alex credits the air ambulance and its paramedics for saving her life;. She said: 'Due to the extent of the internal bleeding, if I had gone by road, I would not have survived.'

Taking part in the sky dive is one way for Alex to say thank you to the air ambulance charity and all it does to help.

Her main aim is to help raise enough money to enable the service to fly at night, as currently it does not have the right equipment on its two helicopters to allow them to fly in the dark.

'Skydiving is something that has always been at the back of my mind, but I have always thought of plenty excuses to not do it. This will be my opportunity to say thank you.'

Alex is hoping to raise at least £2,000 for Devon Air Ambulance Trust. She will be completing the skydive on April 19 at Dunkerswell, near Honiton, with her son Matthew, 24. To support Alex and the Devon Air Ambulance Trust, you can sponsor her via http://www.just">www.just giving.com/Alex-Farleigh.