VIDALIA — After being thrown from a horse Thursday, May 15 and suffering major injuries, Debbie Paul Guillory is home recuperating.

Guillory, who co-owns Miss-Lou Veterinary Hospital with her daughter, Veronica Paul-Smith, was riding a horse at her Vidalia home when the animal unexpectedly began bucking.

“She (Guillory) went up in the air, and as she was coming down, her foot went though the stirrup and she hit her head,” Paul-Smith said of the incident. “And then as he (the horse) was coming up and down, he jumped on her twice.”

This was the first time the 1,300-pound horse had behaved like this, Paul-Smith said.

“We’re still not 100 percent sure of what happened,” she said. “The horse is super gentle, and he’s never done anysaid. “The horse is super gentle, and he’s never done anything like this before.”

Paul-Smith said it was her mother’s screams that signaled her father, Tony Guillory, and her husband, Jerry Smith, to respond.

“Thankfully, my dad and my husband were in the pasture next to her and they didn’t see it happen, but they heard mom scream,” Paul-Smith said.

Guillory was immediately transported to Merit Health Natchez, where she was treated for 12 broken ribs and severe blood loss from the abdomen.

At approximately midnight Friday, May 15, Guillory had her spleen removed. The following Sunday, Guillory had extensive blood transfusions.

“Had she been in the ER another 45 minutes to an hour, she would have bled to death,” Paul-Smith said.

Considering her mother’s severe injury, Paul-Smith said Guillory’s recovery has been a miracle.

However, the largest obstacle for Guillory hasn’t been recuperating. It’s been staying away from her passion — her practice.

“She pours everything she has into her work,” Paul-Smith said.

Guillory opened the Miss-Lou Veterinary Hospital in 1983 after graduating from Louisiana State University Veterinary School the same year.

In 2005, after also graduating from LSU’s veterinary school, Paul-Smith joined her mother’s practice.

“We were the first mother-daughter team to graduate from LSU vet school,” Paul-Smith said.

Now charged with running the hospital in her mother’s absence, Paul-Smith said her daily schedule and appointment list have greatly expanded.

But the staff and Miss-Lou community have made this difficult time easier, she said.

“Between clients, our church, friends and family, it’s been tremendous,” said Paul-Smith, adding that her mother is “more than ready” to get back in the saddle, literally. “She has a lot of bruising on her back, but she’s in good spirits.”

Since her mother was 2 years old, Paul-Smith said 57-year-old Guillory has been riding horses.

It’s a hobby Paul-Smith said her mother could never give up, even after a life-threatening accident.

“She’s been in rodeos all over Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi,” Paul-Smith said. “She’s not scared to get back. She’s going to climb right up.”

Paul-Smith asked the community to continue to keep her mother in their prayers.

Guillory has no set date to return to work.