Tracy Matkea, a horse trainer, went for a ride on a young horse at her family’s winter ranch in Morristown, […]
Tracy Matkea, a horse trainer, went for a ride on a young horse at her family’s winter ranch in Morristown, Ariz., accompanied by Becky Jo.
During the ride, the horse was startled and threw Matkea, knocking her unconscious and dragging her almost a kilometre.
Matkea was dragged along the rough desert terrain and her skull was fractured and her scalp was pulled back to the bone in the process.
“I was probably dragged for about a quarter mile, and then the stirrup ended up coming apart and that’s how I broke free.”
Thankfully her dog Becky Jo was with her and immediately set off for home to get help. Becky Jo raced home alone and started barking furiously.
Her husband, Butch, knew something was wrong and jumped on an ATV.
“My dog arrived home and she was acting very odd, so my husband and my neighbor jumped on the four-wheelers and she literally led them to where I was in the desert,” said Matkea.
“I was incoherent, but conscious, and bleeding.”
Matkea was airlifted to the hospital and was treated for a severed head artery, a broken facial bone, a major concussion, and severe facial and scalp lacerations just in time. “Five or 10 more minutes bleeding out there and that would have been it. I wouldn’t have been able to lose any more blood.”
The doctors at the hospital said Matkea wouldn’t have survived if she had been left bleeding for just 10 minutes longer. She suffered a fractured orbital bone, deep cuts to her head and face and a severe concussion. She needed more than 100 stitches and staples in her head.