When Olympic rower Georgie Brayshaw was just 15, a horse riding accident left her badly injured and in a coma.

She was rescued by Yorkshire Air Ambulance which she believes was crucial to her survival.

Georgie shares how that rescue shaped her drive to succeed, leading her from recovery in Leeds to winning Great Britain’s first ever women’s quadruple sculls gold medal in Paris 2024, and now preparing for motherhood and future Olympic dreams.

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Welcome to Summat In t'Air, the podcast by Yorkshire Air Ambulance. 2025 marks 25 years of Yorkshire Air Ambulance flying helicopters and saving lives across the region. So to celebrate, we're sharing stories of rescues and a glimpse of life at the charity.

I heard the air ambulance actually got to me before the land ambulance had even set off to get me. And so that time that they saved getting me to hospital was probably crucial.

Georgie Brayshaw is an Olympic medalist. In fact, she's a history making medalist after winning Great Britain's first ever gold medal in the women's quadruple sculls in Paris in 2024. But life could have been very different for her because when she was 15, she had a horse riding accident and needed Yorkshire Air Ambulance to take her to hospital.

We were just a normal family, not particularly sporty. I was into everything. I did all the clubs, I did singing, I did drama, I did pantomimes. I actually would probably have, you would have thought I would have gone into drama or the arts or something like that. My one big thing growing up in Leeds was I absolutely loved horses. And that was like an obsession that started when I was seven. My mum and dad bought me four lessons as a bit of a - "She likes to try new things. Let's get her just four lessons just to give her something new to do." Turned into the most expensive birthday present they have ever bought in their lives. And from the first lesson I was just hooked. And so actually in Leeds I spent most of my time down at the stables getting mucky, mucking out horses, riding them. Yeah, just being with my horses one day, went out with my friends, we're with a big group of people and we're galloping through a field in Bramham and my horse that I was riding could be a little bit silly. When he was with big groups of horses, he wasn't the most sensible horse. And I don't remember this, but we were galloping through a field.

There was a tarmac road, it was through Bramham Park in Leeds and I couldn't slow Harry down to a trot, which you would normally trot over a road or walk. And apparently I couldn't slow him down. And he turned just as we got to the road and slipped over onto the tarmac road with me on top of. I was left in a coma for quite a while. It wasn't good. But as I say, I don't remember any of it. That's just from what people have told me. And then when I woke up, I couldn't move my left hand side.

And that probably took from what my parents said, probably took a year to get back to normal, back to normal. But then when you start doing high performance sport, which I did many years later, you realise actually I had a lot of weaknesses so I had a lot to work on getting into high performance sport.

How did you cope with the mental stress of the accident? Especially as a teenager?

I would say actually as a 15 year old girl and the whole accident I would. It's one of these things that just happens in life and it was unfortunate but it's taught me a lot and I think that was actually the beginning of my journey of becoming this resilient, never take no for an answer sort of person. Because when I was in hospital, doctors said like the prognosis was Georgie will probably never walk again, she'll probably never feed herself again. This is like a very serious accident and that's what was told to my parents. But I think when people tell me I can't do anything because I was a keen cross country runner and loved trying different sports and things and when people tell me I can't do something, I really don't like that. And that was probably the start of me being like, no, I can do that. And that is what has been my journey the whole time to get to where I am now is people telling me, oh no, you can't do that, do that. And me being like, no, I can't do that.

So actually I think although it was a tragic accident, it was a very positive accident because it taught me a lot of things about myself and without it, who knows, who knows what would have happened? Who knows who I'd be now? Am I a different person? I don't know. But you know, I would actually never begrudge it. Fortunately for me, it turned out well and I am okay. You know, that might not be the case for everyone, but yeah, it was a positive thing in my eyes.

Talk us through what your recovery was like when you first left hospital.

My mum was in medicine and a midwife and she was a nurse before that and she stayed with me in hospital because I was only 15 and so I think it was just constantly them pushing me to come on, you can do it and things like that. And I remember, I do, towards the end of my stay in hospital, I do remember this part. My brothers used to come visit me and I don't know whether you remember the game Frustration where there's the dice in a kind of pod in the middle of the game. Well, the rule was that everyone could only use their left hand to push the dice because I was so dominant on my right hand side and I just wasn't using my left hand side at all because I'd lost use of it. They really pushed me to use my left hand side with everything I did. And so my mum and my family and my dad were like really supportive and just really pushed me and kept, use your left hand, use your left hand, get up and walk. And then so that kind of got me out of hospital. And then I remember going back to school and I was in the cross country team before my accident and my PE teacher came up to me and said, come on, you're going to join a cross country team again, you know you can still do it.

And I was like, I honestly can't run anymore. I just couldn't figure out running and I just hadn't since my accident. And she was like, what are you on about? Of course you can just put one foot in front of the other. And I was like, yeah, you're kind of right. Actually from there I just kind of got back into running and it was just people, it was just a lot of support and people telling me, no, don't listen to your body that say, no, you can't use your left hand side because you can stop being silly and just get on with it. And I'll never forget that teacher telling me that as well. What you want about, of course you can do it. And that also really paved the way for my journey as well, because you can do it.

Of course you can do anything until you're not breathing and dead. Then you can do it. You know, is my big thought, how.

Do you think it might have turned out if the Yorkshire Air Ambulance hadn't turned up?

I would actually dread to think. I've heard, I don't know whether this is true or this is real. I'm not sure I've heard the, the air ambulance actually got to me before the land ambulance had even set off to get me. And so that time that they saved getting me to hospital was probably crucial. It was quite a long time ago. But we have met the paramedics and the doctors who were in the air ambulance at the time and they said how bad my injuries looked and so I would guess it was very time time sensitive. And so for them to get there and to me so quick and get me to hospital so quick was just so important. And I'll forever be thankful to them because would I even be here, what state would I be in? Maybe I would not be able to walk or feed myself again, had they not got to me so quick and that outcome could have happened.

So I'm forever grateful to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

And how did you get into rowing?

When I got out of hospital, I was still obsessed with horses. It was not Harry's fault at all, it was not the horse's fault. It was just one of those things. And I went back to horse riding against the doctor's advice. But, you know, I just loved horses. So I did get back to horse riding and then shortly after that I went to university and you can't afford to take a horse to university and, you know, couldn't afford a horse at university, so stopped horse riding. And then in my first year at university, I signed up for almost everything at Freshers Fair, apart from rowing, because I just. Being from the north, rowing isn't really a big thing.

Certainly down south it's massive, but up north it's really not. So I just never really thought about it. Joined netball, joined lacrosse, joined trampolining, Nearly fell off the trampoline about 10 times, nearly broke my neck doing that and just nothing clicked. So it was in my second year of university when my dad actually said, I'm not from a sporty family at all, but he said, you've inherited very long arms from the Brayshaws. And he's like, I've heard he'd never tried it, but I've heard that can be very useful in rowing. So I did sign up to the university rowing program. So I went to the University of Northampton and it is not a big rowing university at all. I don't think they have a rowing club anymore.

I think it only lasted a few years and I joined up to it and just met a really good group of friends and it was great. And it was more about friendships and living the university lifestyle and not really taking any of it seriously. But there was a coach there who was like, oh, you know, you have got long arms and you are quite naturally strong and tall, so maybe you should try out for something called the GB Start program. And that's a program where they take people with very little knowledge or no knowledge of rowing, but have the attributes to one day be possibly an Olympic medalist or Olympian. And they just test them out and see. And I didn't actually get on to the GB Start program. They said no. Like, I don't really know what the reasons were, but they said no.

But obviously I don't like being told no. So that was a bit frustrating. In my third year, my Mum actually had, she had a stroke and she had a bad head injury as well, which thankfully she is also okay. So I stopped in my third year and then when I came back to Leeds after university, I joined the local rowing club just to give me something to do, stop me getting a bit chubby, you know, put on quite a bit, bit of weight at uni as you do. And I was like, oh, I am actually, I could be quite good at this. So I tried out for the GB start program again in Manchester because there wasn't one based in Yorkshire at the time. And I got on that time and that was 10 years ago, I think nine, 10 years ago.

And that is where it all started. I started training full time. Mum and dad were supporting me because you didn't get any funding when you start out and. Yeah, and that's where it started. And a gold medal is where it ended. Oh, not ended.

Tell us about the Olympics. What was it like getting selected to represent your country?

Yeah, so the Olympics is the biggest event in rowing. It's just incredible. It's what everyone aims for, like rowing is based on a four year Olympiad and it is literally from one Olympics to the next. Everything in between is preparing us for the Olympics. Getting the call that I would be competing at the Olympics. It was kind of, it was actually only a three year Olympiad because obviously Tokyo was delayed because of COVID and so we're kind of like building up through that three years. In 2022, we were bronze world medalists in the quad and there was more testing to see who would make the boat go quickest.

Like, pinch yourself. How am I here? It was at Kew Gardens, which was the official selection and it was really special. There was, you know, loads of things going on. We still had to train that day, but. So we're all bleary eyed and tired when we were getting selected. But it was really nice and. And then a little bit nearer to the Olympics, we actually had like a family day at Caversham where I train and my mum and dad were there and there was some more sort of selection speeches and things going on and that was really special to have my parents there. As well, I think my mum and dad are like the proudest people possible. Like, my dad mentions it everywhere we go. My dad, like, literally will go for a meal in a restaurant and my dad would be like, did you know my daughter got gold at the Olympics? Or she got an MBE, blah, blah. And oh, my God, dad, please stop embarrassing me. And my mum as well, just so proud. And then I've got three brothers and, yeah, they're all equally proud. And Thomas, my oldest brother, came out with his wife, Janelle. And William and Edward, my other brothers, were at home watching on tv and just everyone was behind me.

And then, particularly with my story of, you know, being in the coma paralysed, everyone's just a little bit in disbelief that. And just so proud that I've managed to do this. And, yeah, it's really. They're just so proud. And the other day, it was our year anniversary, Mum sent a nice text saying, like, how amazing that was and everyone enjoyed it so much and it was nice to hear that they're still proud and still think about it.

And it was a very close race in Paris, wasn't it?

Yeah. And my dad said where they were in the stands, they were probably about 1500 meters into the race between a K and 1500 meters, and he was preparing himself how to console me that I'd got silver. And then the way that rowing works is obviously we're on a lake and people are stood still, so the angles are really weird. So as the boats go past, that's the only time when you can really see where the boats are. Other than that, it kind of warps your view a little bit. And so they didn't know we'd won. And we were celebrating in our boat at the end because we had to wait a few seconds for it to come. It was photo finished and we had to wait for the final results to come up on the screen.

But it came up on the screen that was adjacent to us before the crowd had seen it. So we were celebrating the boat and my mum and dad were like, oh, my God. Like, no, no, we don't know what's going on. And, yeah, it was a tight race. It was just. I knew we were in a good, solid silver position and it was like, what else can I do now to get that gold? And it was literally throw the kitchen sinker. And it worked.

So what was it like being at the Olympic Games?

Yeah, it was incredible. It was completely out of this world. Like, honestly, it was just the best thing that I've ever been involved with leading up to the Olympics. We had selection which really cool at Kew Gardens. Then we went to kitting out at the NEC and we got suitcases full of just kit and just loads of different stuff, which is really cool and you just treated really well and it was really cool. And then we got the Eurostar out there which is really nice with all our teammates and then we got there and where we were staying because where the rowing is situated is a little further out of Paris and it's probably about a 45 minute hour drive from the center of Paris where the Olympic village was. So we stayed in a satellite hotel which were all a bit like, oh, we don't get the perks of the village because the village is incredible. But it was really nice to be in a satellite hotel while our event was on because then we could just solely concentrate on rowing.

And it was like there was other nations there, there was a Dutch there, the Canadians there. And it was like being at a World Rowing championships and like you just focused on the race. And then when our event was finished, so we stayed there for a week. When rowing was finished, we still kept our paths for the village and we moved into Airbnbs. So our Airbnb, I stayed with my husband and some of my teammates was literally a two minute walk to the village. So then for the second week, no stress, we'd finished our competition and we could just enjoy the village. And that was just incredible. It was like being in Futurama.

It was just out of this world. Everything was brand new and there was electric cars and buses just going around and you just went, put your thumb out or whatever and just hopped on and hopped off wherever you wanted. There was free drinks everywhere, like everything was free. It was so, so cool. And then it'd be rude to go to Paris and not go to Disneyland. So we went to Disneyland for a day and yeah, just so many good memories. And we watched different sports. We saw the beach, volleyball, diving, gymnastics, taekwondo. I think we saw, yeah, it was just an incredible two weeks, like the best weeks of my life.

And you've now got a world record too.

Yeah, so I have a world record on the RP3 row machine. And every year throughout the year we have to, as a squad, we have to complete 2k tests on the row machine, 5k tests. What else is a 30 minute test? There's loads of different tests we have to do. And I just went into this 5k just thinking, I've always been very good on the rowing machine and I'VE always been top of the squad, but just thinking, oh, I'll just do another. It's just a test, like, it's fine, I'll just do another 5K test. And it came out as a world record.

And to top it all off, you've also been awarded an MBE.

Yeah, that was very special. I was invited to go to Buckingham Palace a few months ago, so my whole crew, so Hannah, Lola, Lauren and myself were awarded MBE's. So we went to Buckingham palace together with our families. Princess Anne gave us our MBEs and it was really special because she gave us our medals at the Olympics as well. So it was lovely to. We've met her a few times anyway, but it was lovely to meet her again and she knew who we were, she recognised us. She had different conversations with all of us. With Layla, one of my teammates, she'd said, I'm really sorry, but I do know who you are because I've met you all before.

But you all look so different in dresses because obviously the first time she'd met us, we were sweaty messes on a podium, absolutely beaming, but very red faces and very frizzy hair. But she was like, you all look really nice today. And so it was lovely to have a chat to her and have her award as our MVs and it's just something really special. Honestly, I don't understand how I've gone from like a normal girl in Leeds, just growing up to like today. It is ridiculous. But in my message that I tried to get to people, I was honestly just a normal girl in Leeds. My dad was a policeman, my mum was a midwife, just an average girl and look at what I've done. And I just feel like I just want to get it out there that anyone, honestly anyone can just find their passion.

It might not be rowing, but just find their thing and if you work hard enough, you can get to the top.

If you could look back to your 15 year old self, what would you tell her?

Just keep going. Just honestly keep going. Prove people wrong, show people what you can do. Be proud of what you're doing, you know, stand up, hold your head high. It might not be what everyone else is doing out there and people might think, you know, why are you doing that? Why are you dedicating so much time to this one thing that you know what you're doing, but like, show them what you can do. And then when you get to the top, it's quite satisfying, you know, I've got my gold medal here, showing them the gold medal. It's quite satisfying, you know, so, yeah, just don't stop. Just keep doing you. Enjoy life and see where it takes you.

What about the future? What's next for you?

Well, this is a bit of a down different route at the moment. I hope to go to LA in 2028, but at the moment I am very heavily pregnant with twins. Three and a half weeks we've got our date booked in twin boys and who knows whether there'll be Olympic rows in the future. Hopefully I will go back to rowing afterwards and you know, when I've got sorted with twins and if I can work out whether it's even possible, who knows, but hopefully I will get back to rowing and I'll be at LA in 2028, hopefully winning another gold medal.

Georgie's story is remarkable. From being so poorly after her horse riding accident to not just representing her country in rowing, but becoming an Olympian, winning a gold medal and very soon becoming a mum to twins. You can help more stories like this happen by supporting Yorkshire Air Ambulance go to yorkshireairambulance.orguk to donate.

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