Woman trains to be paramedic after Clifton crash kills horse

Francesca Kennedy had owned Bart for two years before the fatal crash in 2020

A woman who was injured in a car crash which also killed her horse is now training to be a paramedic.

Francesca Kennedy said she wants to be able to help people like the Great North Air Ambulance helped her after the crash in Clifton, Cumbria, in December 2020.

The 21-year-old lost her "best friend" horse Bart in the crash.

She is organising a charity ball at Shap Wells Hotel on 9 April to raise funds for the air ambulance.

Miss Kennedy was on a ride with her friend when they were in collision with a vehicle.

She said Bart, an 11-year-old Irish sports horse, was in a huge amount of pain and a vet decided he had to be put down in a nearby field.

Francesca Kennedy said Bart was her best friend

Miss Kennedy said she and Bart were inseparable in the two years she owned him, adding: "Bart meant everything to me, he really was my best friend.

"I could tell him anything and he was there through everything, I called him my real-life unicorn."

Miss Kennedy was flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough as it was believed she could have a spinal injury, although she was found to suffered two torn ligaments, a torn tendon and nerve damage.

Miss Kennedy, who previously raised £2,500 for the air ambulance, said Bart's Ball would be in "honour of my beautiful horse" as well as to "raise awareness for road safety" and thank the air ambulance.

She said she is also now studying to be a paramedic "so she can help people, just like how [the air ambulance] helped her".