Marie was the victim of a very serious horse riding accident.
Everything begins as a dream in the world of horses, but it is Cécile, his mother, who tells it. Because Marie, 34, forgot everything on February 19, 2015 when she fell from a horse in Wellington, in the United States: “Marie had started riding horses at 6 years old, a family passion, with a German grandmother who was a breeder, and I gave lessons, among other things on Wednesdays and Saturdays, to my four children. Marie was the most passionate, to the point of becoming champion of France.” This is what led her to the United States, after the school for young riders in Saumur, to Wellington (Florida), the site of the accident: “Marie was training the horses of an Olympic show jumping rider. She was found unconscious, the horse had perhaps also fallen on top of her.”
When the American surgeon reaches Cécile at her home in France, near Bordeaux, it is to tell her that it is “very serious” since the vital prognosis is engaged : “The certainty is that she had lost her speech, her hearing, the mobility of her legs, but above all she was at risk of losing her life because of intracranial pressure. Marie had a huge hematoma on the left and a clot on the right. ” Months of anguish followed for the mother, not for the daughter: “To realize where I came from, where I was, it took me two years. The consciousness of the head trauma patient returns in stages, numbered from 1 to 10 by the doctors,” explains Marie, whose speech still remains difficult today. “It’s like the body. I dictate a movement but my leg doesn’t follow, which makes me fragile, and my sense of balance is totally disrupted.”
Four years of rehabilitation
Hospitalizations and rehabilitation time in the center will be spread over 4 years, in the United States thanks to work accident treatment: “Marie was fortunately well covered,” explains Cécile, “which allowed us to go to the best centers, for head trauma as well as in an aphasia center, with adorable professionals and sophisticated equipment, adapted swimming pools, a wetsuit. which stimulates neurological sensations, then equine therapy.” Reconnecting with the horse, an idea from Cécile who was advised by doctors to bring Marie closer to what stimulates her. If the young girl has forgotten everything, she on the other hand instinctively has a penchant for what she has already known, and the horse was her whole life.
Cécile has drawn a line under her French life to stimulate Marie from morning to evening seven days a week, by settling nearby. Father, brothers and sisters, cousins, follow one another in the centers at her bedside, Cécile makes the two-hour journey to the center where Marie rediscovers a little of the magic of her passion, without speaking yet, in a wheelchair, subject to seizures epilepsy: “I taught her how to hold a fork as well as how to rebuild her muscles and regain her coordination on the horse, encouraging her as one does for a child: “That’s good Marie, well done!”.” After five years of angelic patience and armed with extraordinary faith, progress is there, and Cécile has an idea: “What if Marie did para-dressage?”
Getting back on a horse thanks to para-dressage
The American para-dressage team (riding for disabled riders) immediately opened their arms to him, lending him a horse and all the forgotten gestures returned, little by little. In a few months, Marie found her place in the top 5, enough to consider participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Taking on challenges has always motivated her and the horse is more than ever her best friend : “When I’m on a horse, able-bodied or not, it’s the same. He’s my legs.” After hard training, Marie returned to France in April 2024 with Bomba Stic d’Arion, an 11-year-old male that she rides with her feet elasticated in the stirrups, to avoid any deviation, a custom-made saddle in depending on its weaknesses, reins with markers. This French horse, “met” in 2020 during a visit to France, became his partner. Qualified as an alternate for the Paralympic Games, Marie did not compete on the front of the stage, but she shared all the emotions, recognized internationally as a high-level athlete.
And it’s probably just a goodbye: “There, we relax a little, they explain in unison. To take stock.” But the 2028 Olympics taking place in the country where Married almost lost his life, before finding it again, it would be quite a symbol. The main thing is that progress continues, in terms of speech, coordination, and the joy of living too, thanks to his family, his mother in the lead, and his dear horse.