Chloe's Story

Chloe was 19 years old and studying at Juilliard Ballet Dance School in New York City.

She’s danced since she was four years old, her mother Alice, was a primary school teacher and Ted, her father was a piano teacher. Chloe was an only child, her family were quite well off, loving and encouraging. They cherished Chloe and supported her dreams.

As a small child Chloe loved to dance around in fairy costumes and pretend to be a ballet dancer. She was never shy, but a lively, outgoing child.

They lived on the edge of a big city on a quiet street where many families had settled to raise their children away from the hustle of the city. Chloe had a best friend from the age of six. Her name was Holly and she had a little pony, Jess, a happy go lucky Arab cross.

The two girls had a happy childhood, one loving ponies and the other loving dancing and the ballet.

It was a cold Friday morning in February and started off like any other day in Chloe’s life when she received an urgent call about her best friend Holly. She had fallen from her horse and had been taken to A&E. She had been found in the woods by a couple walking their dogs.

Against her peers’ request, Chloe left rehearsing and rushed to the hospital where Chloe was undergoing emergency surgery.

Chloe’s heart was in her stomach with worry for Holly, yet she was also worrying about her own career. She had left so abruptly against the wishes of her teacher. The ballet school had given her the lead part of Odette in Swan Lake and she was told any missed sessions weren’t allowed – even if it was an emergency or a death in the family. A very harsh rule but Holly was her best friend from the age of six and her only friend really. They had been inseparable for so long and here she was in hospital waiting to find out if her friend would ever walk again.

Holly had no family, having lost her parents in a car accident several years ago. She too, was an only child.

Chloe was the only person at the hospital as her true next of kin. She was sorting out the hospital medical insurance forms, her phone buzzing with calls from the ballet school which she ignored.

Several hours passed and the surgeons came out to talk to her. They thought the surgery had gone well. There had been severe spinal injuries and only time would tell if Holly would make a full recovery.

Chloe had to go back to Julliard to see what her fate was in the show. After a long meeting they allowed her to keep her lead role but she wasn’t allowed any more time away from practice so she was praying Holly would make a full recovery.

Training and rehearsing took up all of Chloe’s time and she was only able to see Holly during evening visiting hours.  For the last two days, Holly had been asleep not having come round from the surgery. This particular evening, she hoped that there would be good news and some improvement.

As Chloe entered the hospital, she felt a cold shiver and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. A feeling of dread came over her. A doctor was waiting for her to arrive and took her into a side room. It was the worst case scenario. There had been a tiny bleed on Holly’s brain that had gone unnoticed due to the spinal injuries being the main focus for the medical team. The bleed had caused a pulmonary embolism and Holly was gone. Chloe had to sign the forms to switch off the life support machine.

Some time passes, the funeral was a small service. The show went ahead and was a great success. Chloe’s family was so proud of her, but Chloe was putting on a brave face, showing a strong side of well-being but deep down she was utterly distraught.

The weekend came when she had to decide what to do with Holly’s horse, Jester. He was the gelding born from Holly’s first pony Jess. He was a beautiful black and white horse, calm, part Arab and he was slightly taller than Jess. Chloe had been there when Holly bred Jess and watched Jester grow from a foal to the handsome horse he became.

Money was not a problem when it came to keeping him. It was the heartache.

Jester was kept at stables where the staff were on site and able to take care of the horses living there but exercise and companionship wasn’t really included, and Chloe didn’t have the time to be there for him.

Janet, a woman at the stables had mentioned putting Jester on loan – a way of keeping ownership of the horse and sharing responsibilities and cost.  Lots of people who didn’t want to sell up did this and Chloe thought it was the perfect solution.

Now it was down to finding the right person to take him in. Janet had a few in mind. Chloe just had to make the time to meet them.

The season’s showing of Swan Lake was coming to and end and Chloe had time to meet potential candidates. A young man named Michael was the best option. He lived close by, had plenty of experience and he seemed to have a caring nature. Jester seemed happy around him.

Chloe often thought about how he would be feeling not seeing Holly. She sometimes felt his sorrow and shared the moment with him, also missing Holly so much it meant she cried often. So, decision time. Chloe chose Michael to share or take on most of the responsibility for Jester.

Karen