Nurse helps out in not-so-local derby
Deborah Swann, who lives in Bluntisham, acted as a medic to riders in the Mongol Derby, a 1,000km horse race which follows the path of Genghis Khan and is cited as the most dangerous of its kind.
Prometheus Medical, suppliers and partners to derby organisers The Adventurists, chose Deborah for the trip after she excelled in specialist expedition training.
The nurse, who has been part of the Addenbrooke’s emergency team for more than 15 years, said: “I’d honestly never heard of the Mongol Derby before, but I said yes straight away, since this kind of thing is the aim when taking on expedition training.
“There were three medics: myself, an Australian doctor and a paramedic from Hereford. We were responsible for all 30 riders and 15 crew members.
“Most of our time was spent tackling the unavoidable aches and pains, but the trip was not without incident.
“We had one guy in his 60s fall from his horse and break his collarbone, and another girl broke her pelvis and collapsed a lung.
“Our most serious casualty, though, was a Dutch rider who after falling from his horse broke his neck.
“We strapped him up with leather girths borrowed from a saddle and then managed to wedge him into the back of our Jeep. Unfortunately, we were still eight hours from the capital, so getting him there safely on a series of unmade roads wasn't easy.
“What’s even more amazing, though, is that he later discharged himself from hospital to come and see us at the end-of-expedition party.”
Deborah and the other medics were on-call 24 hours a day during the trip, but were well looked-after by the local herders, whose tents or ‘gers’ they stayed in during the trip.
The 38-year-old added: “We spent a lot of time giving care to the herders and their families, who were gracious enough to supply horses for the derby.”
Now back at Addenbrooke's, Deborah has been selected as one of the medics responsible for assisting the International Search and Rescue team, which saw action most recently after an earthquake devastated Christchurch, New Zealand last year.
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