A MOTHER-OF-TWO from Clacton died as a result of a “tragic accident” after attempting to ride her horse bareback and without wearing a helmet, an inquest has heard.

Teaching assistant Wendy Faux-Watson, 41, suffered a brain injury when she fell from her horse in a field in Rectory Lane, Ramsey, on June 8 2009.

After spending more than a year in a coma she died at Colchester General Hospital on July 5 of injuries that, according to Chelmsford coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray, “inexorably extend back to the accident”.

Husband Nicholas Faux of Clarendon Park in Clacton said: “She was a very outgoing and active woman. She was not one to sit around and always liked helping other people.

“She was a classroom assistant at Clacton Coastal Academy and enjoyed her work, especially when helping those less fortunate. For the last four years she had been helping adolescents with behavioural problems.”

Mrs Faux-Watson, who was born in South Wales, had ridden horses on and off since she was 10 years old. In January last year she had resumed her hobby and was in the process of the buying the horse from which she fell.

Coroner’s officer Stephen Parfrey told the court that Mrs Faux-Watson had been clearing the horse’s field of manure with a friend when she had decided to sit on the horse without a saddle or a helmet.

Mr Faux, who gave up work to care for his wife while she was in a coma, said: “She was an experienced rider, but this was a stupid, momentary lapse in concentration. She wasn’t wearing any protective clothing and the horse got spooked and she fell off.

“It has been a massive shock for the whole family, especially at the time of the accident.”

Children, Bronwyn Watson, 15 and seven-year-old Rhys Faux visited their mother about three times a week while she was at Treetops High Dependency Centre in Highwoods, Colchester.

Mr Faux said the staff at Treetops looked after his wife “brilliantly”.

Before being moved to the high dependency centre, Mrs Faux-Watson had been airlifted to Queen’s Hospital, Romford, by the Essex Air Ambulance.

Mrs Beasley-Murray said she had not ordered a post-mortem because of the full information that had been provided by doctors.

She said the victim had clearly been a “much-loved lady” and hoped that her family could “remember all the good times they had together”.

Mrs Faux-Watson died of aspiration pneumonia due to hydrocephalus caused by a brain injury.