Paul Tapner riding Bonza King of Rouges at Festival of British Eventing 2018
26th August 2020
Paul is home from hospital
"Some great news today Paul has been discharged from hospital! It’s been a rollercoaster of a 3 weeks but he is home!
Massive thank you to everyone at the Great Western Hospital for absolutely everything, we are so grateful. From the emergency team, then the team on Falcon ward, to the ICU team and then the team on Neptune ward, every single person has been wonderful.
Paul is generally well, he is in good spirits and looking forward to starting his rehibilitation with Hobbs neuro team via Oaksey house.
Thanks once again for everyone’s support it really has pulled me through a nightmare!"
12th August 2020
“Paul is progressing well.
Medically he is good.
Physically he aches
and mentally he is improving!” says Georgina Tapner in the latest update on Paul’s recovery from a mild stroke following a fall last week
“His long term memory is very good, but his short term memory from the day of the accident until yesterday is sketchy. Today however he is remembering things like what he has eaten, why he is in hospital and what he needs to do to get better. He is likely to remain in hospital for a little longer before he can start his program of rehabilitation.
“Thank you all so much for your messages, I have read every one, unfortunately I cannot reply to them all, but please know every single one has meant a lot as I am sure they will to Paul when he can read and process them.
“The kids are coping well, Josh is busy helping with the harvest and working in the pub in the evenings. Maddie competed little Rocky at Waverton on Saturday and managed to come 2nd with a double clear! And we sold lovely Minty over the weekend to a wonderful home. Next week all things working out Maddie will compete at Westwilts and I will compete in the BD champs at Hartpury. So, things at Team Tapner are still moving forward, we are just waiting, but of course being patient for the boss to return!”
Original post
UK-based Australian rider Paul Tapner has suffered a mild stroke following a fall whilst hacking a horse out on Wednesday 5th August
A press release issued by his family advises that ‘Following scans, it has been found that he has two tiny bleeds on his brain. One of the bleeds has unfortunately caused him to have a very mild stroke. He has remained conscious and is starting to be less distressed and more restful’
Paul, who won Badminton Horse Trials in 2010 and has represented Australia on several occasions, has in recent years been more associated with eventing media through his work with the Event Rider Masters as its Operations Director. This year he returned to the eventing circuit with great success, recently finishing third in the Advanced Intermediate at Bicton Arena and Open Intermediate at Aston-Le-Walls riding Bonza King of Rouges
The prognosis is positive for a future recovery
“The consultant says she cannot see why he will not make a full recovery, but that this will be slowly over weeks and possibly months”
“Georgina, Joshua and Madison would like to thank everybody for being so supportive and of course are so grateful to the medical teams. They have been overwhelmed by support and offers of help”
We send our best wishes to Paul, his family and support team for a speedy recovery at this difficult time
