A SCHOOLGIRL has died in hospital from injuries she sustained in a horse-riding accident in Co Clare on Sunday. Patricia Lynch (17), Latoon, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, died at about 5am yesterday at Galway University Hospital.
The Leaving Certificate student at St Flannan’s College, Ennis, had been on life-support after she sustained a fatal head injury when she fell from her horse during a “Turkey Trot” near Crusheen on Sunday afternoon.
The teenager was treated at the scene by paramedics before being brought by ambulance to University Hospital in Galway. It had been hoped she could be transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin for more specialist treatment. However, doctors deemed that she was too ill to travel.
It is understood she was injured after falling from her horse while jumping a low wall. It is known she was wearing a riding helmet and other safety clothing. The keen horse enthusiast was taking part in a hunt organised by a group called the Turkey Trotters. These events do not involve dogs or hunting animals but have been described as cross-country “fun-runs”.
Patricia was the youngest of four girls and is survived by her parents Pat and Ida and her sisters Pamela, Sarah and Jennifer.