The snow was falling at Gleneagles as Sandie Robertson entered the tunnel taking her to the showjumping arena.
Life was good for the former model who had also presented on Sky Sports and now had a dream job as an instructor in the sport she loved.
However, the omens that February day in 2004 were not good. The lorry wouldn’t start, the ramp stuck, the weather had turned ugly and she arrived minus her hat.
Luckily, before Sandie, originally from Darvel, Ayrshire, entered the arena, she borrowed the hat which saved her life.
“I was on my gelding, Joey. He bucked coming round the corner and stopped at the oxer. He launched himself from a standstill and I was in the air. I reached for the saddle but I was flying … then falling.
“I will never forget the ringing in my ears. Then a groaning which I realised was me trying to breathe,” she recalled. “I saw my friend walk towards me, then back away. I don’t remember much more.”
It was a moment which changed Sandie’s life forever. “The doctors told me I’d broken five vertebrae and shattered a disc, and that I might not walk again.
“If my back had been broken two millimetres higher, I’d have been paralysed with injuries like those of Christopher Reeve.
“They put a wheelchair in my room but I swore I’d never use it – and I didn’t. I was in a body cast for four months and wore a metal brace for the next four.”
There was more bad news. Not only was Sandie going to have to give up showjumping, the doctors told her it would be too dangerous to have a baby.
But, just one year later Sandie was back in the saddle. “It was frightening. But I had to prove something to myself. As I got on tears were streaming down my face but I felt happy again,” she said.
Then, just 13 months after her emotional reconnection with Joey, Sandie was back competing and with her new partner, Vizby, she reached levels of confidence she never thought possible.
Sandie became a personal trainer and continued showjumping, but something wasn’t right.
“Although I was winning, I was in flight mode a lot of the time and riding too quickly to be as good as I could be, and Vizby was already a very fast horse. A friend recommended I see someone to help my performance. It worked … and changed my life again.
“I decided to pass on what I had learned. I trained as a sports mind coach, hypnotherapist and neuro linguistic programming practitioner and now work with riders from beginners to European competitors, helping them gain confidence or fine-tuning their game.
“I also use the techniques to help people suffering from everything from depression to eating disorders.”
Two years ago, Sandie’s life was transformed yet again when she and then, fiancé, Stewart Armstrong, decided to try for a baby.
“The consultant said it was dangerous. My back might not be strong enough. But we decided to try anyway. I stopped the painkillers I’d taken since the accident, so I was in agony, but two weeks later I was pregnant.
“The pregnancy was painful, excruciating near the end, but it was worth everything.”
On December 17, 2015, Lucy was born at Wishaw General. After a few health scares of her own, Lucy came home on Christmas Day.
“It was the best Christmas present ever. Despite everything that’s happened to me, I’m the luckiest person in the world. If anyone says I can’t do something – walk, ride or be a mum – something inside makes me prove them wrong and look at my life now.
“I’ve a career that allows me to help people from all walks of life. I’m married to the love of my life. And then there’s Lucy.
“Lucy is the best thing ever and I’ll do everything to make her as happy as I now am and, hopefully, help her avoid some of the bumps I’ve had along the way,” said Sandie.
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