A BENDIGO jockey who was declared clinically dead after being kicked in the chest by a horse has climbed back into the saddle.
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Rebecca Williams is back riding, eight months after a burst valve stopped her heart beating for six minutes.
On March 30, Williams had been on cloud nine.
The hoop had just ridden her mother's horse, Portland, to victory in the first race at Kerang for her 100th career win.
Later that day, Williams was looking forward to celebrating her 21st birthday with family and friends at home.
But then the freak accident struck.
Williams was about to climb aboard Steelmore for race two.
The next thing she remembers is waking up in the Alfred Hospital after being airlifted to Melbourne.
"I can't recall the event, I've been told that I was about to get legged-on a horse called Steelmore and another horse has bumped into him and he got a fright and just double-barrelled me in the chest," Williams said.
"I rode the winner in the first race. I was planning on having a pretty good day because that night was my 21st birthday party and, yeah, that happened."
The kick was so strong it threw Williams about five metres through the air. Only last week, via Twitter, did she realise it had stopped her heart for so long.
"They said the compaction of my sternum on my heart, my tricuspid valve actually just burst," she said.
"So instead of the blood pumping through properly, it was regurgitating, and it just stopped.
"They said because I was so fit my heart just kicked back in, so I was very lucky.
"People who have the same injury...they usually just die. They say it's the same sort of injury as if you're in a car crash and hit the steering wheel."
While Williams lay unconscious her mother, Jennifer, was told that a jockey had been kicked in the mounting yard.
People who have the same injury...they usually just die
- Rebecca Williams
"I walked over and that's when I saw Rebecca on the ground," she said.
"I couldn't see where she was kicked, whether it was in the head or...so it was pretty terrifying."
Williams was in hospital for a week at first, before a second stint after major heart surgery.
A month later she was sharing a ward with heart-attack victims as she started rehabilitation.
"All the old blokes were just thinking 'gee, you're a bit young to have a heart attack'," Williams said.
It's been a long road back, but on Saturday Williams was finally able to saddle-up once more for trackwork.
The courageous jockey says she had no reservations about returning to racing.
She has one year left as an apprentice and is aiming to race again next month.
"I never once doubted that I wanted to ride," Williams said.
"I had a few concerns that I wouldn't be able to ride, but it's finally happened eight months later."