When air ambulance paramedic Natalie Brodrick was injured there was only one thing for it....call the air ambulance!

Natalie had to be airlifted by her fellow crew members after she was knocked unconscious in a horse riding accident.

Moments earlier she had been cantering along on five-year-old gelding Bonnet when he tripped over a rabbit hole in a field.

The 32-year-old was thrown off her horse and landed on her head, suffering head and wrist injuries.

She said: "I came round on the floor and could not understand what had happened. Bonnet hadn't run off and was stood next to me."

She phoned both her boyfriend Chris Baker and sister Emily, but was confused after the fall.

Natalie said: "I remember thinking that I had to get to the farm nearby so I was leading my horse and my boyfriend could see me walking from the main road but when he got to me I was sat on the floor again."

Natalie's colleague, critical care paramedic Jon Sanders, was on the Air Ambulance dispatch desk when the 999 call came in. He was unaware that the patient was Natalie.

The decision to call the helicopter was made in the call centre because she had suffered a head injury, the remote location and the nearest land ambulance was half an hour away in Tenterden.

It took pilot Blaine Ashurst, Dr Amy Hughes and Critical Care Paramedic Chris Fudge 15 minutes to get to Camber near Rye, where they landed on the beach.

Natalie was then flown to the William Harvey Hospital at Ashford but was discharged later that day. She was off work for a month following the accident last month.

She has now urged fellow horse riders to always carry a mobile phone, tell family and friends where they are going, wear a body protector and replace helmets after a fall.

• If you would like to make a donation to the Air Ambulance please call 01622 833833. Alternatively cheques can be made payable to Kent Air Ambulance and posted to Wheelbarrow Park Estate, Pattenden Lane, Marden, Kent, TN12 9QJ