Horse rider rescued following fall

Sea Rescue – Struisbaai – 12th March, 2011: Horse rider rescued following fall from horse:At 16h00 NSRI Agulhas volunteers were called out following reports of a woman rider fallen from her horse at Struisbaai Plaat.We sent our sea rescue 4x4 vehicle and the Overberg Fire and Rescue Services, the Overberg Fire and Rescue Services helicopter and Metro EMS responded.On arrival on-scene a 38 year old woman, Lisa Jacobs, from Tygervalley, was found to be in a serious condition suffering a suspected fractured pelvis and possible additional fractures as well as internal injuries sustained from a fall from her horse.She was lying on the beach, on the surf edge in an incoming tide, and paramedics and rescue workers stabilized the patient on-scene quickly to avoid the scene being swamped by the incoming tide.After she was immobilized and stabilized, she was loaded into the Overberg Fire and Rescue Services helicopter and airlifted to a local doctors rooms where she met by a Metro EMS ambulance.The patient was loaded into a Metro EMS ambulance and transported to hospital in a stable but serious condition.It appears that a strap came loose or may have broken on the saddle which is believed to have caused her to fall.