THROUGHOUT last week’s Dublin Horse Show, people enquired after show pony rider Ellie McDonnell who, on July 23rd, was involved in a very serious quad bike accident on the family farm in Co Down.

She was airlifted from Portaferry to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where, rushed to theatre, she underwent life-saving operations. Ellie’s mother Mary reported that her daughter had sustained numerous injuries to her head and body including a fractured skull and many fractures to face, head, leg and arm.