A woman who survived a horrific horse accident 33 years ago is staging a fun dog show at Bradford Leigh in August to raise funds for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Airbase Appeal.

Anne Hooper was only 19 in 1984 when she tried to mount a horse in Wadswick, near Corsham, and was seriously injured when it bolted after being spooked.

She was in a coma for 12 weeks and intensive care for 8 weeks at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol with horrific head injuries after being taken there by land ambulance.

“The surgeons removed part of my skull to relieve the pressure on my brain,” said Anne. “Luckily, I have since made a full recovery except that I have lost my sense of smell.

“If the Wiltshire Air Ambulance had existed at the time, I would have been airlifted straight to hospital. In the event, they took me to the Royal United Hospital in Bath by land before transferring me to Frenchay when they realised how serious my injuries were.”

Anne, now 52, spends part of her time organising fun dog shows to raise funds for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, in particular its current Airbase Appeal, which is raising over £5 million for a new airbase and operations centre at Outmarsh Farm at Semington near Melksham.

Her next event is at the Merkins Farm Café and camping site at Bradford Leigh on Saturday, 12 August, from 12 noon to 4pm, when she hopes to raise more than £300 for the Airbase Appeal.

“I’m hoping that we will have around 40-50 dogs taking part and we will be judging them in 12 categories,” said Anne. “We will be presenting rosettes down to 6th place, and there will be prizes for the Best Dog in Show and Reserve Best Dog in Show.”

The dogs on show will be judged by Nick Burden from the Hale Veterinary Group in Chippenham. Anne is also hoping to attract stalls including the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, Guide Dogs for the Blind and Smokey Paws.

Anyone wishing to enter their dog into the show should turn up on the day and register at 12 noon. For anyone using SatNav systems, the postal code for the site is BA15 2RW.