Cathleen O'Halloran Cordova shares her story

MILLERTON - The day started out normally enough. Cathleen O'Halloran Cordova prepared to ride one of her horses, as she did almost every day. But instead of getting the lesson she had scheduled, Cordova ended up in a hospital bed, with a traumatic brain injury that left her in a coma for 10 days and with more than five weeks missing from her memory.

That was nearly a year ago. Today, the Millerton woman is back home, after more than three months in the hospital and many more months recuperating. She�s been back since last July, but is still a bit wobbly. But that�s OK, Cordova said, she�s just glad to be here at all.

"I am so grateful because it wasn�t looking good," she said, adding that she�s still in physical therapy and trying to heal both body and mind.

She struggles with recalling the accident, but has pieced it together with all that she�s learned from those around her.

"My horse just slipped. It fell in dewy grass in the morning. It was a freak accident. I don�t remember the whole day, for a while I couldn�t remember the whole month before the accident or my horse�s name, but it�s definitely coming back," she said. "I would not be here if I was riding by myself, which I did all the time, sometimes three horses a day. I guess it wasn�t my time to go because I happened to be taking a lesson and my trainer was there and she got help and saved my life. The universe totally took care of me."

Cordova was taken to Hartford Hospital first, but shortly afterward was transferred to Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Conn., where she convalesced for two months.

"When I woke up from the coma I was paralyzed on my whole right side. I had to learn to walk again and I still don�t have feeling in my whole right side, though it�s coming back," she said. "My taste buds are not back yet, but here I am."

Pushing the limits of what could rightfully be expected of her, Cordova takes yoga classes regularly and has even climbed back on a horse recently. It�s all part of an attempt to regain a hold on the life she lived before the accident, with some exceptions.

"I�m more careful then I used to be and have to take things more slowly. Before I was so hyper I would never have taken a nap," she said. "My job right now is to get better and to give my body what it needs."

She�s been supported in that goal by her husband, Gabriel, who has been there for Cordova every step of the way.

"It�s amazing how supportive he has been," she said. "While I was in the coma he didn�t want me to wake up without there being a familiar face so there was always someone there. He was amazing in planning that."

What also made a big impression on Cordova was the overwhelming response she received from the community, once she returned home from the hospital.

"It was hard at first because there were things I would always do that I couldn�t do," she said. "But when I came into town it was so touching, people saw me and there were water works, it was very touching, they started to cry. I was glad to be home, that�s for sure."

During her recovery, Cordova said that the community continued its support by offering to help care for her horses and dogs, drive her to the hospital, put up her sister from out-of-state, and just generally doing whatever it could to make her life a little bit easier.

"You learn what is important in life and what�s not important. You learn who your friends are, it�s just amazing," she said. "So many things were difficult for me, so to think that I could have a place that I could ease myself back into reality has been really great."

Cordova has lived in Millerton for nearly a decade and said she "definitely considers it home." Still, she was overwhelmed by the kind of response she got from her friends and neighbors while she was struggling to recover.

"I heard there was a Mass said for me once. There were all of these amazing things," she said with awe. "One of my neighbors said they�re praying for me in their church every week, although she knew it wasn�t my denomination. I told her that I take all denominations."

Even the accident itself hasn�t soured Cordova�s spirit.

"I feel like I have to say it was so horrible. It hasn�t been horrible. I feel like I gained so much knowledge. There�s a general peace about me, I�m not manic anymore. I don�t know how to explain it, but you learn what�s important in life," she said. "Now my goal is just to get better, just to live for the day. There might not be a tomorrow so make the most out of every moment.

"My whole life is changed. It�s just like another phase of my life and I�m OK with it," Cordova continued. "Life is unpredictable. I just feel lucky to be a part of this community."