A FATHER-of-three has said he might not be here today if it were not for an emergency MRI scan at Musgrove Park Hospital following a horse riding accident.

Jeremy Minchin, managing director of Hipppychick, a baby accessories retailer in Bridgwater, is helping to fund-raise for Love Musgrove’s MRI scanner appeal after not one, but two, near-death experiences.

Love Musgrove is the official charity of Musgrove Park Hospital, in Taunton, and it is currently campaigning to raise £1million for a new MRI scanner.

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The hospital is in desperate need of a third scanner as the current two are working at full capacity seven-days-a-week.

Jeremy, who runs Hippychick with his wife, Julia, has had to use the scanners at Musgrove on a number of occasions over the past few years, including when he had a serious paragliding accident in Nepal in 2011 when the wing collapsed 120ft above the ground and he fell on to the rocks below.

When the 52-year-old eventually returned to Taunton, the scanners were crucial for checking on an aortic stent which had been fitted overseas.

Not deterred by his near-death experience in Nepal, Jeremy, who is also a keen horse rider, was rushed for an emergency MRI scan after he was thrown from and trampled on by a horse in November last year.

He said: “I didn’t attend the hospital immediately as I just thought I was heavily bruised, but by the evening I was struggling to breathe and fainting repeatedly so I was rushed to Musgrove where I had a full head, chest and neck scan.

“Not only did it reveal that I had cracked two ribs and a severely collapsed lung but I had to have an emergency chest drain inserted and have 1.3 litres of blood – 25 per cent of normal blood in the body – removed from my chest cavity.

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“If it wasn’t for that scan, the brilliant hard-working team and the fact the system just runs so smoothly at Musgrove, I might very well have not got through that night. and this story could be very different.

“Living in West Hatch we have been to Musgrove many times for different things as a family and we appreciate the wonderful work they do there in every department.

“Hippychick is proud to support the appeal and we will be doing this in a number of ways including asking people who make a retail order through us to donate to the charity.”., and we are seeing lots of people donate so thank you.”

Hippychick will hold a coffee morning at Neroche Village Hall in Bickenhall on Friday, 9 March between 10am-noon.

Donations will be taken on the door for the scanner appeal and there will also be a raffle.

For more information, visit the Love Musgrove website by clicking here.

Use this form to donate to the cause

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