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

Chiacchia of Springville, NY, and Ocala, FL, won an advanced division of the Rocking Horse Spring Horse Trials in Altoona, FL, riding his 2003 Pan Am Gold Medal mount, Windfall II. One year earlier while competing at an event in Tallahassee, FL, 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, and Chiacchia spent 42 days in unconscious and semi-conscious states.

It was nothing short of a miracle when Chiacchia was back in the saddle at the end of April. Riding only his veteran campaigners Windfall II and Better I Do It, Chiacchia was competing again by summer. His victory on March 8, 2009, at Rocking Horse marked his first advanced win since returning to competition.

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