Olivia L. Sears, of Montague, who was thrown from her horse and suffered a spinal injury while riding in a remote area of Montague in April, shows the helmet and a cell phone, which she credits with saving her life. She used the cell phone to call 911 and direct rescue personnel to her.

MONTAGUE - Olivia L. Sears, a lifelong horse lover and rider, finally got the horse she long had sought.

His name was Julio, and only a week after his arrival at her Firefly Farm on Dry Hill Road, he had passed all the tests.

She was ready to just head out on a joy ride on the wide open spaces of the Montague Plains. "I was really happy with him," she said.

It was Wednesday afternoon, April 11, when Sears rode Julio into a remote area of the plains known as the Pine Grove. After a fine time on the trail, they started for home.

Then, it happened suddenly.

"With no warning whatsoever, he bucked, and he bucked a lot," she said.

"The next thing I knew I was on the ground. I landed flat on my face, with smashed teeth and a mouth full of blood."

That wasn't all. To take stock of her wounds, the 53-year-old Sears decided to roll over and check herself before trying to get to her feet. But she could not.

"I went to roll over and I felt nothing happen," she said.

It was a non-feeling that created a fear of spinal damage.

But Sears had done two things that served her well.

First, she was wearing her helmet. The lightweight black headgear had saved her from serious head injuries.

Second, she not only had brought her cell phone, she had avoided the mistake of packing it on the saddle. It was in the pocket of her jeans.

"If you get separated from your horse, you don't want your cell phone running off down the trail," Sears said.

Despite her inability to move from the chest down, she still was able to use her arms to pull out the phone and use it.

And so, despite pain that increased with each breath, Sears was able to make a 911 call. It went to the Montague Center Fire Department.

As these first responders drove onto the plains, siren wailing, Sears stayed on the phone, telling them when she began to hear the siren and, as best she could, its direction.

Her reports enabled the emergency workers to zero in on her. Eventually, they had to go on foot because their vehicle could not reach her.

Sears was carried on a backboard to a pickup truck, which took her to an ambulance. She was driven to the ball field next to Montague Center Elementary School, from where a medical evacuation helicopter took her on the 30-mile flight to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield.

The X-rays of her spine showed the seriousness of the damage. Her spine was severed just below her neck. Doctors tried to prepare her for the worst.

"They said I would likely be a paraplegic. I had no functions below my armpits, and they couldn't guarantee any outcome."

Four days later, however, Sears found that she could move her left foot a little. Voluntary movement of the left leg followed shortly, and the healing was on.

At Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Ludlow, she received therapy that she said she needed for continued recovery.

"They really work you hard there," Sears said.

Today, she is walking, getting closer to normal - and contemplating getting back on a horse, perhaps by fall.

It won't be on Julio. He was shipped back to where she got him, and is now at a sort of rehabilitation center, getting attention from horse experts trying to figure out why he can behave very well for extended periods but suddenly become unmanageable.

It is still a mystery to Sears, despite a half-century of strong relationships with horses that began at age 4, when she got her first horse.

Considered an expert rider, she has been a 4-H Club horse judge and is involved with horse associations and organizations.

There is a lesson to be learned from her accident, according to Sears: "If it can happen to me, it can happen to anybody."

And so, she has been accepting speaking engagements at which she talks about her fall and promotes the importance of safety preparations for riders.

Her message is to "wear your helmet and keep a phone in your packet" when horseback riding.

"I'll get on any soap box available," she said of her campaign.

Her back still hurts sometimes, but the frequency is declining.

"I'm optimistic this is going to be a full recovery," Sears said. "I still have a lot of riding left in me."