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4- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, November 25, 1997 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" A close call Helmet saves life of Blackstock woman, injured in riding accident By Heather McCrae Port Perry Star Helen Martyn still doesn't know why she grabbed a riding helmet before going trail riding with a friend earlier this month. But she's lucky she had it on, as doctors say it saved her life when she was thrown and suffered a fractured skull. At Sweetwater Farm, east of Blackstock, where Mrs. Martyn breaks and trains horses and often trail rides, she's never been in the habit of wearing a helmet, yet she always insists her children wear them. Often Mrs. Martyn and a friend, Sue Helleman, ride together. Frequently Mrs. Martyn rides different animals dur- ing these outings. The mare she was riding the afternoon of Nov. 6 was an unpredictable animal, but never anything she couldn't control in the past. "She'd always been a horse that was hard to handle, but I had always managed her well before," said Mrs. Martyn. The women were enjoying their outing in the brisk outdoors when, on the way home towards the barn, the horse sud- denly reared up, knocking Mrs. Martyn to the asphalt. Losing its balance, the horse fell backwards, crashing down on the rider. "Sue was right there when the horse landed on top of me," Mrs. Martyn said. "It scared her half to death." 'The rest of the day is a blur. Although Mrs. Martyn has a brief memory of racing across the causeway in an ambulance, she doesn't recall the ambulance arriving at the farm or being treated in Emergency at the hospital in Port Perry before being whisked away by ambulance again to the Trauma Unit at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, where she spent the next four days. : "Initially I couldn't move my right side, but this was caused by the massive bruising and swelling," she said. An MRI and CAT scan at the hospital showed Mrs. Martyn suffered a fractured skull, a chipped vertebrae and a concus- sion. "The doctors said the helmet probably saved my life. Or I could have ended up being a quadriplegic," she said. That's what fate dealt actor Christopher Reeves, when he fell off a horse a few years ago. Although Mrs. Martyn suffered serious injuries, there never was any bleeding. "I never even had a mark on me, yet I was sore all over," she said. "I was in agony. I just couldn't believe the pain I was in." But with the excellent care Mrs. Martyn received at the hospitals and the support of her family and friends, she knows she'll get better in time. "It was scary, lying there on the stretch- er, not being able to move and in so much pain," she said. "But my husband Jim was such a sweetie. He helped look after me in the hospital." Now that Mrs. Martyn's out of com- mission and can't look after the 30 horses at the farm, several boarders at the barn have rallied together to help Mr. Martyn and his teenaged daughter, Kristy, with the chores. Friends and neighbors have also been wonderful and have brought food in for the family: "I've received so many choco- lates," Mrs. Martyn said. "I'm going to be 100 pounds heavier when I go to see the doctor again in early December." Since leaving St. Michael's Hospital on Nov. 10, Mrs. Martyn has been glued to the sofa with the phone beside her. Hobbling about, she takes codeine every four hours to ease the pain in her neck .and shoulders. "I've never been a soap opera fan, but I'm watching them now," she said. "The days are long, but I'm not one to sit and watch the grass grow. I intend to put this accident behind me. "It's funny - I've always ridden Western and seldom wear a helmet. But something made me change my mind that day. Even Sue thought it was odd when I grabbed that helmet," she said. Although Mrs. Martyn won't be riding for the rest of this year, she intends to get into the saddle again. "I want to get out riding again, the sooner the better, " she said. "But from now on, I'll be wearing a helmet." Helen Martyn relaxes at home with the riding helmet that saved her life during a mishap earlier this month. The Blackstock woman sustained serious injuries, including a fractured skull, when she was thrown and her horse fell on top of her. She told the Star she doesn't usually wear a helmet, but will from now on. These days Mrs. Martyn's recovering by resting up and keeping in contact with friends via cell phone. She said she's eager to get back in the saddle next year, when she's had a chance to heal. Film maker has homecoming at Oshawa festival this week Results weren't as bad as feared, says specialist Independent filmmak- . er, Lisa Hayes, native of Port Perry, will be pre- senting her two short films to audiences here on Nov. 26, 27 and 28. Hayes' film debut, Dike (1996), is a humorous tale about a women's struggle to hide an excessive per- spiration problem. Dike was named Best Short Film at the Sydney International Film Festival (Australia) in 1996 Port Perry native Allyson Mitchell stars in Dike. Allyson and Lisa have been friends since they were students at Port Perry High School in the '80's. Grandpa's Fingers is a short fable about family, storytelling and cannibal- ism that gives new mean- ing to the phrase 'finger food', featuring Hayes' 87 year-old real life Grandpa, Roy Monk, recounting the tale of how he lost his fin- gers. Both Dike (8.5 minutes) and Grandpa's Fingers (4.5 minutes) will be shown in a series of short films on Wed., Nov. 26 at 10:30 p.m. in the PHI Building and on Thurs., Nov. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Brush Strokes. Hayes will be at a spe- cial party for local film- makers at A Different Drum on Fri., Nov. 28 at 9 p.m., where their films will be re-screened on video format. All screen- ings are only $3. Lisa Hayes was born in Oshawa General Hospital in 1967 and was raised in Port Perry. A graduate of Port Perry High School (1986) and GMI Engineering & Management Institute (1991), she lived briefly in Oshawa while working as a co-op student at General Motors. 'Frustrating' season ends for farmers By Chris Hall Port Perry Star The recent harvest of the majority of Scugog's crops has brought an end to a disappointing sea- son, says a local crop specialist. But Neil Moore, an official with the local Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) office, said a large portion of the township's crops have been brought in, and are in better shape than first anticipated. "The local farmers have harvested a large chunk of their crops in the past few days. There is still maybe as much as one-third of the crops -- grain corn -- still out there, but over all it seems to look pretty good," he said recently. Crops are better than anticipated because of the good October weather we had, said Mr. Moore, adding that as much as three-quarters of the har- vested crops have produced a reasonably good quality. He said a decision was made to pull the crops out because time was running out for area farmers. "The moisture is still pretty high in the crops "right now because of the good weather, but that 'will drop so they're getting in their with their combines," said Mr. Moore. Both the quality and the yield are down from the 1996 season, which was expected, he explains. "I guess it's back to the drawing board for another year as we try and come up with a way to make crops better suited for this weather," he said, adding that there are plans under way to try and develop new plants. The growing season was a frustrating one for area farmers, who got a late start because of a wet spring, then watched as a long drought dried their fields. "We need crops that can withstand drought periods, which we've had more than our fair share of over the past two years," said Mr. Moore. "We need to come up with a sort of hybrid crop that can better adapt to our seasons." As well as harvesting, area farmers have been busy planting a few fields as well. Most of the fall wheat planting has been on schedule. When asked for a description of the 1997 sum- mer growing season, the crop specialist summed it up in one word: Frustrating. "We're winding down a frustrating season right now. We've battled through cold and back- wards weather and two drought periods," he said. "We've had snow when we're not supposed to; it's just been a hard summer."