Family of Dumfries and Galloway animal charity boss "overwhelmed" by support after horror accident

Susan Murdoch of the 3Rs Horse Rescue Centre is back home after seven weeks in hospital

An animal charity boss has returned home after seven weeks in hospital following a horror accident.

And Susan Murdoch’s family have been left “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of support for her after she was seriously injured in the accident with a horse and cart.

Susan, who runs the 3Rs Horse Rescue Centre at Kirkclaugh near Gatehouse with partner Gordon Chisholm, had to be airlifted to hospital in Glasgow following the accident on August 1.

But at the weekend she was finally deemed well enough to return home.

Gordon said: “After seven weeks it’s a godsend. She’s still a fair bit to go but she’s doing really well at home.

“She’s a lot happier at home – she was bored silly, she was improving that much!

“The support has been overwhelming. The generosity of folk and everybody asking after her has been huge.

“The emergency services at the time were second to none – if it hadn’t been for them it would have been a different story.

“The ambulance crew and the air ambulance who took over were fantastic.”

Support also came in the form of an online fundraiser set up by Stewartry Sirens – which Susan’s daughters Holly, Yvie and Islay had played for – which raised £4,000 to help the family stay near the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital while she was being treated.

Gordon said: “That came out of the blue. It was a huge help. The girls used some of it for staying in Glasgow and a big thank you goes to everyone.”

Susan and Gordon set up the 3Rs and The Mane at Kirkclaugh in 2016 and have helped rescued horses and donkeys.

The site is also home to other animals – including emus George and Mildred who went on the run two years ago.

Former teacher Susan and Gordon have also been helping young people gain confidence and new skills by offering them roles at the site.

Gordon added: “We’ve got good folk on the ground who covered when I wasn’t there, mostly at the beginning. If it hadn’t been for them I’d have been stuck.

“They’ve done really well and they’re continuing now Susan’s home.

“I’m taking her out and about to get her memory back. Home life is a great thing for her; it’s all coming back. It’s going to be a long time, we’re just taking it day by day.

“Physically she’s fine. We go through bits and bobs to jog the memory and go places we used to go – she was brought up in Palnackie and Dalbeattie and remembers all that. It’s all coming back.

“We’ve had her back down to the yard for about 10 minutes and she knew folks’ names.

“There’s lots of kids so they’re going to get name tags but she remembers most of the horses names.

“People want to see her, we just need to restrict that a bit so there’s not too much going on too quickly.”

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