A teenager was airlifted to hospital after being thrown from her horse, leaving her with a bone sticking out of her ankle.

Maddie Schaible, 19 and from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, was left severely injured after being thrown from the horse, before being airlifted to hospital. She has been riding since she was two, and now works at her local stables.

The morning of the accident, she had already ridden two horses when she took Rebel, one of the young horses at the stable, out for some exercise. Rebel suddenly reared up and Maddie was thrown to the ground.

She landed badly, and was left with a bone sticking out through the skin of her ankle. Yorkshire Air Ambulance were called, and paramedics Sam and Danny, from the Topcliffe Critical Care Team, were sent out.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service also rushed to the scene, and they performed a primary assessment of the injury. Maddie was given gas and air for pain relief as the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Team arrived.

Paramedic Sam, on the way to the accident, said: "Sometimes with fractures you can get impingement of the nerves and blood vessels that supply blood to the extremities. If the blood flow is cut off significantly or completely and for long enough, that's when you can lose a limb. That's always in our minds when we attend these types of jobs."

The team gave Maddie ketamine, which is the strongest drug carried by the service, as it helps patients detach from the pain and forget the treatment. The team then realigned Maddie's leg, which was made harder as the bone was sticking out of her ankle.

However, they succeeded in moving the bones back into position, before putting the injury in a vacuum splint, which formed a mould to keep the limb in place.

Sam added: "With an open fracture there's an increased risk of infection as the tissue is exposed, as well as the danger of uncontrolled bleeding. Getting the bone back into alignment and securing it quickly is vital to protect the limb and improve patient outcomes."

Maddie was then put into a stretcher and a thermal sleeping bag, before being flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough. After a ten minute flight, Maddie was taken straight into surgery.

Now, Maddie is recovering from her injury, and she said: "The morning of the accident was just a typical day. When it happened, I was just in shock. I remember looking at my leg thinking, 'oh god, this doesn't look right.' I'm very active and love being outdoors, so seeing my sisters riding while I couldn't has been really hard.

"Recovery has been tough, but once I could manage the pain and start getting outside again, I felt so much better. I'm so grateful to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance team for the care they gave me that day, and I'm determined to get back in the saddle as soon as possible."

Maddie's story was featured in the latest Yorkshire Air 999 episode on Friday, at 9pm on Really and discovery+. Alongside Maddie, the episode also featured the team responding to a farmer trapped beneath a vintage tractor in the Yorkshire Dales, a 55-year-old motorcyclist who broke his ribs and collar bone while green-laning, and a two-year-old child with breathing difficulties.