Primary school headteacher died from heart injuries after falling from her horse

The headteacher at a Sudbury school died after falling from her horse, an inquest has heard.

Lesley Farrow, 47, who at the time of her death had been in charge at Woodhall Community Primary School, suffered multiple rib fractures, one of which inflicted an injury to her heart.

Despite the efforts of a team of doctors and a specialist surgeon who was called in from Cambridge, Mrs Farrow died less than three hours after being taken to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.

The mother-of-two had fallen from her horse in a paddock beside her home at Bradfield Combust, near Bury St Edmunds on July 11.

An inquest at Bury St Edmunds heard today (Monday) that the fall happened as Mrs Farrow’s horse, which had been “playing up”, saw a pony and ran towards it.

In a statement, Tim Farrow said after being alerted by his daughter he was on the scene within seconds and, after realising that his wife was seriously injured, called for an ambulance.

At the West Suffolk Hospital medical staff gave Mrs Farrow blood transfusions and had to restart her heart on a number of occasions before she underwent emergency surgery.

It had been decided that Mrs Farrow would have been unable to survive being transferred to a specialist centre for treatment.

Deputy Suffolk Coroner Dr Daniel Sharpstone said while in the operating theatre Mrs Farrow suffered repeated cardiac arrests and after 30 minutes of attempts to revive her surgeons declared her dead.

Dr Sharpstone recorded a conclusion of accidental death.

Mrs Farrow had previously been head teacher at the former All Saints’ Middle School in Sudbury and until last September at Clements Primary School in Haverhill.