Sheikh to pay Dubai horse fall woman's medical bills

The medical bills of a Nottinghamshire woman seriously injured in Dubai are to be met by the country's ruler.

Rebecca Chisholm was left with life-threatening injuries when she was thrown from a horse on 10 May.

It later emerged that her employer's medical insurance did not cover horse riding and her family launched a bid to raise £60,000.

Now Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has confirmed he will pay all bills until she is discharged.

Ms Chisholm, from East Bridgford, was riding with her mother when the horse bolted and she was thrown off, leaving her unconscious with serious head injuries and her face "caked in sand and blood".

Wendy Skelton said when her 24-year-old daughter came round, she said: "Mum, I am dying. I love you".

An initial funding target of £60,000 was close to being met when Dubai's ruler intervened.

A statement on the family's funding page said: "We can announce today that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has offered singularly the most generous gift we could ever have wished to receive.

"His Highness has offered to pay for all of Becca's medical costs until she is discharged from Rashid Hospital.

"We will be forever thankful to him and his country."

The family said the money raised will go towards pay for a specialist medical flight home from the Arabian kingdom and aftercare.

All remaining funds after these costs have been settled will go to the charity Headway UK.

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