A TEENAGE rider who was knocked unconscious falling from her horse was disappointed when a stint in hospital prevented her from lunching with the mayor.

Dawn Kehoe was set to join her sister, Michelle, who is Accrington Carnival Queen, and the Mayor and Mayoress of Hyndburn, Coun Maurice and Margaret Cowell, for a special Sunday lunch.

But Dawn, 16, spent the weekend in Blackburn Infirmary after falling from Bonny when riding with a friend on Saturday.

She suffered head and neck injuries and damaged muscles behind her ears when the horse suddenly bolted and she was thrown to the ground on the bridleway near Great Harwood cemetery.

Paramedics took her to hospital where she was kept under observation before going home to Cliff Street, Rishton, on Monday. But Dawn said that although the fall had stopped her lunching with the mayor, it would not stop her riding.

"I don't remember much about the accident, but I was told that I went right over Bonny's head and landed unconscious on the ground.

"I know I was very lucky but it certainly won't put me off riding Bonny again."

DAWN hit the headlines, too, when she was born, being dubbed a "miracle baby" and given little chance of survival.

When pregnant, Dawn's mother made national news when she had to undergo more than 900 blood transfusions because of a problem with antibodies.

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