'I risked life to save horses in Stourbridge fire'

A woman who helped save eight horses during last week's Stourbridge fire says "it's in my blood to save animals" and did not have time to consider the danger.

Abbie Harvey, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, was working at The Sugarloaf Equestrian Centre on Thursday as the blaze, which saw 19 homes destroyed and a further 18 damaged, took hold.

The 28-year-old saw Norton Road being "engulfed" in flames before running to a nearby field that contained someone else's horses that, without her intervention, she believes would have died.

"I think it was something like six or seven minutes after we'd got them out that, that field was left completely scorched," she said.

"I'm a veterinary nurse, so it's in my blood to save animals and at that point you don't really think about it because you could see the fire literally at the back of the horse field."

Harvey said the first three horses were "angels", partly because the girls used a bucket of feed to lure them away.

Minutes later though a lorry came to transport the animals to safety and the mare that Harvey had been leading refused to get on the trailer.

"She just did not want to go on but at that point the back of your legs were burning because that's how close it was," the veterinary nurse said.

"At that point you were still in shock and your adrenaline was up so we just got them on and off they went."

Harvey and the other riding school workers managed to save another five horses during the fire.

But her heroics came at a cost as she was advised to go to A&E after becoming short of breath.

"I had crackles on my chest, which is why they were concerned, so I went to A&E on Friday," she explained.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm still not great.

"I'm still a little bit short of breath and I'm meant to be in our theatre suite at work. But, because I'm so short of breath, I've said I can't do theatre so I'm on reception today."

Harvey, who was back working a 14-hour shift on Monday despite her chest, said she also had "weird" bruising across her ribs and back.

She said the injuries had made it difficult to bend over but she has been given the all clear after multiple tests.

Helen Walker, yard manager at the equestrian centre, said she was "extremely proud" of Harvey and the others who raced to help the horses.

She also said the Stourbridge community had been vital in the rescue.

"Everybody has been helping," Walker said.

"While we were on Racecourse Lane we had people bringing us water and everybody was just trying to do everything they could do to help with the fire."

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