Horse rider airlifted

A woman in her 70s had to be airlifted after she suffered suspected head and back injuries after she fell from her horse on a property at Cooroy.

The Sunshine Coast’s LifeFlight helicopter crew has airlifted a woman to hospital after she fell from a horse while riding at Cooroy.

It’s believed the woman, who is aged in her 70s, was riding on a private property when her horse reared up, causing her to fall backwards.

Her head then hit the ground and she briefly lost consciousness.

The rescue chopper was called into action, just before 9am on Tuesday, 27 December.

Due to the undulating terrain, the pilot landed down a hill, about 150m from where the woman was being treated by local Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) paramedics.

The QAS paramedics, RACQ LifeFlight Aircrew Officer and QAS Flight Paramedic, carefully transported the woman to the chopper using an all-terrain vehicle from the property.

She was flown to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a stable condition, along with her daughter as escort, under the care of the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Critical Care Doctor.

The injured rider suffered suspected head and neck injuries.

The Land Rover LifeFlight Special Mission Helicopter performed this mission.

The aircraft is part of LifeFlight Australia’s commercial operation, which supports the work of the community helicopter fleet, through our profit-for-purpose model.

It is currently based at the Sunshine Coast and is rotated through our community bases from time to time, when operationally required.