The NHS was great for Girl, but I still don’t like it

When Girl came off the horse it didn’t look like a bad fall. More like an involuntary and rather hurried dismount. She’d landed on her feet, that was the main thing, so I wasn’t initially too concerned when she lay writhing and yelling on the grass. Nasty sprain I thought. Give it five minutes…

But five minutes later she was still on her back, still in pain, and I began to worry. Mainly for my darling Girl’s sake, of course, but partly for my own. ‘Oh God oh God,’ I thought. ‘She’s supposed to be going back to school tomorrow. I am going to be in such shit with her mother.’

Unfortunately for Girl — who I’m sure would have preferred an air ambulance, ideally piloted by Prince William — I managed to get the car into the field. As we sped home, trying to avoid bumps, Girl kept her spirits up by swearing at me, listening to Taylor Swift at full volume and occasionally calling up school friends to gauge their level of concern.