Darren Chiacchia Earns First Win Since Major Injury

One year after suffering a life-threatening riding accident that could have ended his competitive career, Olympic Bronze medalist Darren Chiacchia was celebrating victory.

The Hamburg native and Frontier High School graduate won an advanced division of the Rocking Horse Spring Horse Trials in Altoona, Fla. riding his 2003 Pan Am Gold Medal mount, Windfall II. One year earlier while competing at an event in Tallahassee, Fla., Chiacchia had a rotational fall from a preliminary horse and was airlifted to Tallahassee Medical Center where his condition was listed as critical. The accident left him with a severe head injury, a collapsed lung and multiple rib fractures. Chiacchia spent 42 days in unconscious and semi-conscious states.

However, Chiacchia found his way back into the saddle by the end of April. Riding only his veteran campaigners, Windfall II and Better I Do It, to keep the riding risk as low as possible, Chiacchia was competing again by the summer. His victory on March 8 at Rocking Horse marked his first advanced win since returning to competition…

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Date: 3-20-2009
By: www.thesunnews.net