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What a Difference a Year Can Make!

On September 23, 2010 Jordan Rice had a scheduled riding lesson @ Shoestring Stables located on Dent Road in Eads, TN she had tacked her horse Jazz and was walking him around waiting for her lesson to begin. Her grandfather turned to enter the barn to talk to her trainer and within 2 minutes; Jazz, her horse, came back into the barn headed straight for Roger without Jordan.

Roger immediately went outside to look for Jordan, he found her on the ground unconscious. He tried to get her to regain consciousness and she opened her eyes for a second then she was out. Both her trainer and grandfather tried to get Jordan to regain consciousness with no success. 911 was called and the ambulance arrived within 10 minutes they placed Jordan on a stretcher board with a neck brace and restraints to keep her immobile.

The EMT unit immediately called for the helicopter so she could be air lifted to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, TN. Jordan did let out a scream and was crying while the EMTs were talking to her to keep her calm, than she was sedated before transport. They would not let us ride in the helicopter so our friend drove us to the hospital. When we arrived, which seemed like an eternity, Jordan was already there being treated in ER.

We were not allowed to see her right away and police officers were interviewing us about the accident. She was then taken to have a CT scan of her head and upper torso. We were able to walk with her as she was wheeled to radiology. She was returned to the ER, as we waited outside in the hallway, and we could hear her crying and screaming, although we knew she was in the best care. The neurologist finally came outside to tell us the result of the CT scan. He said that Jordan’s head injury showed bleeding in the fluid parts of her brain, that there were no broken bones either in her neck or spine. He said her case was critical and was going to the ICU unit where she would be monitored 24 hours a day.

The doctor also told us if she had not been wearing her Troxel Helmet we would not be talking about her in the present tense. They attempted to put a breathing tube in but it was decided she didn’t need one as she was able to breathe on her own. Jordan was unconscious for 2 days, during that time we were able to be with her in ICU to talk to her and try to get her to wake up. Jordan was taken out of her neck brace after her second CT scan showed some swelling had gone down and there was still no evidence of broken neck or back. The doctors explained to us that she still had bleeding in her 1, 2 and 3rd ventricles but was showing signs that the blood was proceeding in its normal path and not increasing. We have so many friends and people we didn’t know, praying for her recovery, we will never be able to express our gratitude.

There was a Barrel Racing @ USA stadium on Saturday September 25th, a prayer was said for Jordan @ approximately 2:00 P. M. At about 3:15 P.M she regained consciousness and when Jordan did wake, she let out her first word, “Papa”. We immediately to give everyone @ USA Stadium the good news and we were told when the announcement was made there was a roaring of cheers, whistles and clapping along with hugs for our family. That moment was so special to us and to this day, it still comforts our hearts. She was transferred from ICU to a room on Monday and was allowed to come home the following Wednesday.

Jordan had short term memory loss but in the 3 weeks that followed she has regained her total memory except what actually happened that fateful day. Dr. Frederick Boop said Jordan can’t ride her horses until early December. She is anxious to return to her horseback riding but until than she is doing ground work under the guidance of her trainers. We never anticipated the people that came into our lives at this crucial period. Roger and I have never experienced the amount of love the equine community gave us, not to mention our neighbors on Brookview Cove. I think that we didn’t realized how many lives entered ours and Jordan’s. We weren’t aware that Jordan had affected by such generous souls. We are in awe of how we were embraced by the enormous outpouring of prayers and acts of kindness. God has blessed us, by giving us the ultimate gift of her life. We don’t know how to express how humble we are in the Grace of such wonderful and selfless people. Thank you is never enough.

UPDATE 2011

What a difference a year can make! Thank you Troxel Helmet Company. To say that Roger and I are extremely blessed cannot begin to give you a visual of how our lives have changed. Since the beginning of 2011, Jordan resumed riding her horse Jazz again and worked diligently to bring their connection back to where they left off on that fateful day of 23 September 2010.

Jazz is one of those amazing horses we all recognize, he took care of Jordan on that day and continues to love her as much as ever, she will forever be aware of what he means to her, and together they resumed that familiar thing once again while riding at LASC. In the months that followed, Jordan has had the opportunity to ride a different horse so that she could get to understand the concept of how a seasoned barrel horse ran the barrel pattern.

She began a different journey on her new horse “Dusty”. Together they have met new challenges this year. Jordan and Dusty took their first quest together to NBHA Youth World in Jackson, TN in July 2011. They became champions in their own right. Together, as a team they placed in second in 5D and made it back to finals. From there to the Fortune 5 barrel show in Tunica, MS in November, where they placed first in Youth 4D!

We owe our deepest and most sincere thanks to Troxel for virtually saving our Jordan. We always keep these words at the forefront of everything that concerns Jordan and the horses she rides, REMEMBER TO WEAR YOUR HELMET BEFORE GETTING ON YOUR HORSE. A Troxel helmet is part of Jordan’s existence and as natural a part of her life as breathing.

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