A young woman has praised ambulance crews who travelled by air, road and woodland track to reach her when she was thrown from her horse.

Badly-injured Jacky Gray was airlifted to a specialist neurological unit after the terrifying fall in Herne Common.

And now she has expressed her heartfelt thanks to all those who helped with the cross-country rescue.

Mrs Gray, 24, had been out "hacking" - or trail riding - in the woods off Braggs Lane with her friend Kerri Rigden on Monday.

At about midday, her horse Trigger got spooked and spun round before cantering off, sending Mrs Gray flying headfirst into a tree.

"I said to Kerri 'I'm not okay, I'm not okay, call an ambulance.' I can't remember much, only my head hurting and swelling and being sick."

"I was dazed for a few seconds then screamed about my head hurting so much," said Mrs Gray, a mother-of-two, from Beltinge.

Miss Rigden called 999, but it was a whole hour before emergency staff reached Mrs Gray.

A regular ambulance could not venture into the woodland so a Hazardous Area Response Team (Hart) had to be called.

Mrs Gray was left talking to a doctor over the phone while Miss Rigden went off to track down the emergency staff.

Paramedics then assessed Mrs Gray at the scene for another hour as the injuries were to her head.

Finally, some two hours after the fall, she was airlifted to the specialist unit at Queen's Hospital in Romford, Essex.

A relieved Mrs Gray said: "Thankfully all was fine with my scans. I have just come out of hospital with bruises and a swollen face.

"I really want to thank all the paramedics, the Hems [Helicopter Emergency Medical Service] and my friend Kerri."