Tara’s inspiring journey shows how anyone can get back in the saddle.
Tara Flynn’s passion has always been horses. A talented rider who has won many competitions, not even a life-threatening injury could stop her from getting to where she is today. A member of the Irish dressage team who won Individual Gold at the 2007 European Championships in Working Hunter Pony 153cm before her life-changing injury, Tara now rides on the Irish para-dressage team. “I’ve been riding since I was four years old. All I do is train and train. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” explains Tara.
In January 2008, shortly after graduating from University of Limerick with a gold medal in her marketing degree, Tara took a snowboarding trip to Mammoth Lakes, California. She was visiting her cousins and taking a well-earned break from study. Tragically during her trip as she was walking one day to a nearby bus stop, a snowplough that was out clearing heavy snowfall was driving with the front loader up and failed to see Tara, running her down. “I was conscious for the first few hours after the accident, then I went into a coma. It wasn’t hard for me, I was asleep, but it was very hard for my family.”
The street in Mammoth Lakes, California where the snowplow accident happened.
The accident led to Tara spending 6 months in a minimally conscious state. Her brother Brian sheds some light on the extent of her injuries: “Her brain injury was due to fat embolism syndrome. The direct injury was to her femur being crushed and then fats from her bone got into her bloodstream and caused the damage when they travelled to the brain.”
Tara’s family never gave up on her, making sure she got the best available treatment. This recovery was a worldwide journey, going from intensive care in Reno, to the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, to Institut Guttmann in Barcelona for neurorehabilitation. Tara recalls her lengthy recovery period: “It took me so long to recognise anything or anybody. I really was on death’s door… it took a long time to learn how to speak or even use my mouth muscles again. My horses helped me an awful lot.” But Tara persevered. After nine months she finally spoke again. Brian tells us her first full sentence after the accident was said as her father was trying to get her to do her occupational therapy exercises, with Tara responding, “No dad, I don’t want to do it!”
Tara pictured back on her beloved horse Cosmo for the first time since her accident with her parents.
By November 2008, she was back on her horse Cosmo with assistance, and by 2012 Tara returned to riding lessons and was even competing in competitions again. A year later, she won her first rosette since the accident. In summer 2024, she competed on the Irish Para Dressage team for the first time at the Para Home Nations competition in the UK. Now, she’s hoping to compete in the Paralympics in the future with her horse Kenny. “To compete in the Paralympics would be a dream come true for me. There’s lots of qualifiers you have to go through in Ireland, England and the Netherlands.”
To help her achieve her paralympic goal, Tara decided to study Horsemanship (QQI Level 5) at Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board’s College of FET Croom Campus in 2023. This was followed by the Equine Breeding (QQI Level 6) course for which she was recently conferred with her award. Tara said: “It was fantastic and very educational. I would recommend it for anyone who loves horses like me. My favourite part of the course was the hands-on experience working with horses in Clonshire.” College of FET Croom Campus was one of a number of campuses across Limerick and Clare recently conferring awards to graduates at ceremonies in the Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa in Limerick. For more information on the courses Tara undertook, visit collegeofFET.ie/croom-campus.
Story by Saul Mezzapelle, Junior, Limerick & Clare ETB Digital Content Specialist and third year Journalism and Digital Communications student at University of Limerick.
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