After devastating Thanksgiving accident, woman gets back in the saddle
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — One woman is celebrating Thanksgiving in style at the National Reining Horse Association Futurity, and there's a reason she is grateful just to ride at all.
Kelly Stich was getting ready to enjoy Thanksgiving with her family in 2019, but decided to take her horse for a quick ride with her two sons before the meal.
"I was on a horse that had been injured a couple of months earlier," said Stich.
Stich didn't want the horse to reinjure herself so she pulled on the reigns to slow the horse down. Next thing she knows, she is fighting for her life.
"She started to buck a little," said Stich. "I had a button up vest on, my button up vest got caught on the horn, and then she kept bucking. She reared up and she rode up and came over on top of me."
Stich's son Chase was 14 at the time and ran to help.
"It's probably about as scared as I've ever been in my life," said Chase Mcinteer. "I was trying to get her horse wrangled because she was excited and running around the arena."
During her scariest moments Stich said Chase never left her side.
"He stood behind me and talked to me the whole time until my husband and my son showed up," said Stich.
Stich's injuries were severe.
"I had two rib fractures, a sternal fracture, I had a hematoma that was under my sternal fracture. I had torn my rotator cuff, and I had ruptured my intestines," explained Stich.
Four days at the hospital, months of recovery, two years to ride again and 'Stitch' drew her back.
"He was my saving grace. He was the horse that kind of got me back in the saddle," said Stich.
Not only did Stitch help rebuild Stich's confidence, he became her partner for a comeback at the National Reining Horse Association Futurity.
"I love it. This is a great community, great people, I'm not home for Thanksgiving, but I'm here and I get to celebrate It with my horse friends," she said.
It's Stich's strength and love for riding that Chase admires his mom for, thankful for her recovery.
"It's given me a really big appreciation for how strong my mom is," said Mcinteer. "She really is my hero."