Television star Lorraine Kelly has thanked staff and fans as she left hospital more than a week after a frightening horse riding accident.
The mother-of-one, who underwent surgery at St George’s Hospital in London, is expected to return to her Broughty Ferry home in the next few days as she recovers from her ordeal.
The 52-year-old had been learning how to ride a horse ahead of a challenge for Sarah Brown’s charity PiggyBankKids.
But during what was only her second lesson she fell from the saddle approaching a jump. The animal then stamped on her thigh, causing her to lose a lot of blood.
Lorraine, who is reportedly being lined up as the new presenter of Daybreak, said she suffered a ”real fright” from the fall.
After days of inactivity on her Twitter site the ITV presenter posted: ”Finally out of hospital. Thanks for all your lovely tweets really means a lot to know you are thinking of me.
”It was a bad accident but could have been so much worse.”
In a later tweet she added: ”Staff at gunning ward in St George hospital were brilliant. NHS at its finest. My thanks to all of them kind , caring and professional.”
The fall happened while Lorraine was training for a modern pentathlon she was taking part in for the charity.
She was training at a riding school in Surrey for the event, which took place last Wednesday and would have seen her compete alongside Sarah Brown, wife of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in events including riding, fencing, swimming, running and shooting.
Her injuries are expected to take around four weeks to heal.
She is not hosting her morning television show this week and was unable to write her column in last weekend’s Sunday Post.
In the meantime her television programme Lorraine is being presented by Helen Fospero.
It is understood bosses are keen to appoint Lorraine as the new face of Daybreak.
It has been suggested she will anchor the revamped programme alongside Five News presenter Matt Barbet.